Your Lies are Art
by CozyKitsune
Summary: Ladybug ruined everything for Lila. Now everyone believes her to be a liar they don't care enough to give her another chance. That's what Lila believes until she meets a certain red-headed artist. They soon become close friends but is his friendship enough to make her forget her hatred of ladybug?
1. prologue

**So this is my first multi-chapter fic and I hope I did well enough of making the story flow I do find I struggle with that which is why I mainly write one-shots.**

 **Also, this fic will be mainly in Lila's point of view and sometimes Nathanael's point of view.**

 **So some mean things about Ladybug will be said as it is from Lila's view but I like Ladybug I don't hate her even if it'll seem that way. Though I do think Lila was in her right not to accept Ladybugs apology and I think Ladybug was wrong to bully (yes bully cause that what it is) Lila in the park like she did but I agree Lila was also wrong to Lie. So they were both in the wrong. Anyway, I'll get on with the prologue.**

* * *

Lila was a liar. That was what everyone said. They never stopped to consider why she lied.

Lila hadn't always been a liar. It was true she had quite the imagination growing up after all she had to find some way to entertain herself. Her parents weren't around much. She was left to her imagination and her storybooks.

The only time Lila got to hang out with her mother was when she dragged Lila shopping. It wasn't like Lila didn't like shopping but her mother was very picky about what Lila could and could not wear. She wanted Lila to always be in with the latest fashion. Lila would roll her eyes at her Mother demanding the shop workers to bring them this and that. The workers never complained out loud probably because her mother was a well-known actress in Italy and her father was a diplomat.

When her Mother really annoyed her, Lila used to call her the evil queen (not to her face of course) because of her habit of always checking herself in the many mirrors she placed around the house. Her mother had a serious problem with mirrors which Lila wasn't too fond of she didn't like constantly seeing her reflection everywhere she mirrors used to always appear in her nightmares so Lila always tried to keep her eyes off them when she passed them though it was hard with one nearly being in every hallway and room

Her Father had tried to find time to be with Lila and teach her the ways of the world but soon enough he was offered jobs with higher rankings and better pay he took them of course and soon enough it was always working with him. He never could find time to be with his daughter preferring to work day and night.

Lila had tried to get him spend time with her but he always brushed her off with _"Mio Cara, can't you see I'm busy right now we'll talk later"_ Later never came.

Lila wasn't one to give up she was a stubborn and determined child. So she had gone down to the kitchens and ordered the family chef to help her make a cake for her dad. The family workers were used to Lila's bossy ways and it was better to humour her than to tell her to go away for when she threw a tantrum no one's ears were safe from her screams.

So they had made a simple cake for her Father. Lila had excitedly walked up the stairs with the small cake for her father. She had crept into his study holding the cake in a tray and walked up to his desk with a smile.

"Daddy, I made you a cake" she had said with a happy grin.

Her father hadn't bothered to look at her continuing to type on his computer "I'm busy right now come back later"

"That's okay I'll just leave the cake here for you" Lila had smiled and placed the cake on the desk. "It's not good to work on an empty stomach…what are you doing anyway?" Lila had asked

Her Father had looked with a glare standing up and hitting the cake off the table, it had landed on the ground ruined and smashed. Lila had gasped eyes widening in shock.

"LILA!" he roared.

Lila took a step back in fear she knew her father had a temper but she had never been the one he was angry with before.

"Do you ever listen? I told you I'm busy, I don't want your stupid cake if I wanted food I would ask the chef to make me some! Now leave!" he had shouted his green eyes flashing with anger.

Lila had turned on her heel and ran out of the room tears running down her eyes "I-I'm S-sorry" she had muttered as she ran out the door.

From that day she had learned not to bother her father again unless he asked to see her. He never mentioned what happened or apologised so Lila decided to try and forget it too. She didn't wish to anger her father ever again.

Lila never found it easy fitting in and being social. She had used to be home-schooled with all the travelling but her parents decided when she turned seven it would be best for her to go to school with other kids her age. The kids in her new class had either full-out ignored her already in their own close groups or picked on her for fun. Lila had run home with tears in her eyes and to her relief, her parents had been there. When her father asked why she was crying she had told him about the other kids not liking her and her father told her not to worry all she had to do was to tell a few lies and the children were sure to like her.

Young Lila had pouted with watery eyes and said "But isn't lying bad?" her father had shaken his head with a laugh "Of course not everyone else is doing it so why shouldn't you?"

"Is it just like my stories" Lila had asked in a whisper.

"Yes, Mio Cara it is just like telling a story and a story never hurt anyone has it" Her father had said patting her head.

Lila had giggled and shook her head "No, everyone loves stories so then they will love me, right Father?"

"Of course they will you are a Rossi so why should they not?" her father had chuckled "And Lila try not to cry any more people will only think your weak if you cry" he had said before walking off

Lila had nodded sadly before wiping away the tears from her eyes and vowing never to cry again that would make her father proud of her right? And then he would spend more time with her.

With her newfound knowledge, Little Lila had run up the stairs nearly tripping over her untied laces and into her room and over to her enormous bookcase. She began to pull heaps of books out. If she was going to tell the kids stories she needed to be prepared right?

Lila was used to coming up with heaps of stories to amuse and entertain herself it wouldn't be that hard to tell the other kids these stories as well. Soon enough in the playground kids would surround her wanting to hear her extraordinary tales.

She would tell them many stories one of these stories were about how she was out walking in a forest and she had met a unicorn who had let her comb and plait its mane.

One day she had come into school wearing fox ears and had told the other kids she was a magical kitsune and usually she can use magic to hide her ears but as she was feeling weak today so she could not. The kids had loved her and her stories some of them had even believed her stories to be real.

Telling stories became a habit to Lila and she began to tell stories all the time even to everyday questions.

When Mia, her father's assistant, asked Lila why she was not eating her food instead of just saying she was not hungry she would make up a story about how she had helped a girl who's kitten had got stuck in a tree and she had given her a bag of Ciambella as thanks.

The constant moving didn't help Lila shake off this habit. She would walk into each new school and felt the judging stares and whispers about who she could be. Lila may have been nervous but she wasn't one to hide from the spotlight if anything she loved the spotlight and the attention from her peers maybe it helped her forget how lonely she was at home.

So Lila began to lie every day only she didn't recognise it as lying she just thought she was telling stories after all she wasn't harming anyone. When people had piled around her and asked her who she was and what her life was before. Lila had spun fantastic stories or well Lies about how she had been living Hollywood and knew all the most famous actors and actresses the children in her class had gasped and looked at her in awe suddenly everyone wanted to be her friend.

Lila knew it wasn't true friendship but she could pretend it was and it was better than being lonely.

She started telling more lies to remain popular and before the kids could catch onto her lies her family would be moving again.

Lila thought she had it good despite the constant moving and the fact her parents were never there and even if they would they would always brush Lila off with some excuse.

Still, she had her stories and the people at the new schools she would go to liked her when she told the lies and made herself into a new person, a likeable person.

That was until Paris she had no idea one lie could ruin everything. _'It's all that's bugs fault!'_ Lila thought with angry tears in her eyes _'Wait until I get m revenge I'll squash that bug and she never know it was me!"_ Lila had thought while glaring at a poster of the hero suddenly a voice appeared in her mind offering her help with her revenge. Lila had smirked as she agreed finally she going to knock that bug off her fake throne and Paris would love her instead.


	2. Liar, Liar

Lila stormed away from the Eiffel Tower. Away from the bully that was Ladybug. She quickly wiped her eyes when she felt angry tears start to form.

She wasn't going to cry, she was better than that.

She clutched the foxtail necklace in her hand tighter so that it left red marks on her skin.

She didn't remember exactly what had happened while she was she was akumatised, it was a hazy fog like she had been sleepwalking.

All she knew was her hatred for Ladybug had grown. ' _Who does that Bug think she is? Using her power for own benefit! She's nothing but a bully, not a superhero'_ Lila angrily thought to herself as she turned around a corner.

She wasn't looking where she was going she crashed into someone.

Pages went flying in the air and her necklace slipped out her hand.

"Sorry I wasn't-" she began to say when the boy cut her off "its okay…I was distracted as well, Sorry" he began to pick up his pages.

Lila knelt down and began to help him. She picked one up from the path and gasped these drawings were good…no good didn't give them enough credit…they were stunning.

She handed the pages back to him "You're really talented!"

"Oh…thanks," he said as he took the pages back.

Lila took a better look at the boy he was actually pretty cute. He had Ocean blue eyes though one of his eyes was covered by a long bang of red hair.

The boy held out the foxtail necklace "um…this is yours?"

It sounded as if the red-head had meant for it to be a statement, but his voice travels high at the end of the sentence; as if in question. Lila smiles at his nervousness _'damn he really is adorable'_

"Yes, thank you," she said taking back the necklace.

Before she can ask his name he is already walking on down the street. Lila would have called after but she realised that maybe he had seen her akumatised.

' _That's why he was so nervous and ran off'_ Lila sighed sadly.

Lila sighed _'why could nothing in her life ever work out…now everyone hated her!'_ She walked on down the street looking at the ground. _'This was meant to be a fresh start that's what father said…but something always goes wrong!'_ she felt a stray tear fall down her face.

She reached up and wiped it away _'I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry'_ she chanted in her head but it didn't help she felt the tears creep out of her eyes.

She didn't want anyone to see her like this. ' _I'm just a liar…I'm weak'_ she rushed home tears blurring her vision.

She finally got home and shut the door with a bang. She didn't expect anyone to be home her parents always prioritised work over her sometimes she felt like they forgot they had a daughter. The noisy sobs echoed through the empty house making her feel even more alone. She felt unwanted and hated by everyone, her parents included.

She quickly rushed up the stairs to her bedroom, her tears blurring her vision. She rushed into her bedroom and roughly closed the door and then she sank to the ground letting out sobs. The sobs punched through her as she pressed her forehead against the bedroom door as her tears continued to flow down her face showing no signs of stopping.

Lila took deep shaky breaths trying to calm herself. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want to feel this weak, this useless. She hated feeling like this for it reminded at the end of the day she was nothing. If she were to vanish from earth no one would care…no one would even notice.

Lila stood up and wiped her eyes before turning and looking around her bedroom, there was still some boxes to unpack. Lila's family never stay in a city for longer than a couple of months. This is the first city they had decided to stay in for good.

Lila wasn't sure if that was a good thing now. She hadn't care when she heard that they were moving again, she was used to it by now. She began to get happy at the thought she could maybe make real friends that she wouldn't have to suddenly up and leave but then Ladybug had to ruin everything.

Lila slumped down on her bed and took out her phone. She knew this would do her no good but she needed to see.

She started to search for the LadyBlog. She found it very quickly and saw it had a lot of followers. _'Alya wasn't kidding when she said all of Paris depends on her for news'_ Lila thought a nervous knot appearing in her stomach.

She began to scroll down and her heart sank, it appeared Alya was a quick reporter. She already had filmed Ladybug explaining Volpina was just another Akuma.

Lila found that her hatred for Ladybug still had not subsided even a little. Ladybug ruined her life in just a matter of minutes, yet had the nerve to confront Lila after the incident to apologize as if simply apologizing would make Lila suddenly bow down to her feet in admiration like everyone else in Paris seemed to do, Lila rolled her eyes in annoyance. Ladybug seriously thought a simple Apology would suddenly make what had happened earlier okay.

Ladybug didn't even tell the reporters why Lila got akumatized in the first place, making herself the victim and hero while making Lila the cold-hearted villain that betrayed the two superheroes and all of Paris.

Lila found herself throwing her phone across the room in anger, it hit the wall with a thud before collapsing to the ground. Everyone was praising Ladybug yet hating her, it wasn't fair!

Tears blurred her vision as she curled up into a ball, arms around her legs. _'Ladybug is nothing but a bully…a bully that hides behind her mask and dumb fans'_

The tears kept falling down her face and Lila didn't bother wiping them away she couldn't be bothered being strong anymore. How could she knew it wasn't worth it anymore whatever she did to try and make things right wouldn't work. ' _Ladybug probably has it in for me she wants to make my Life unbearable all because of a silly lie'_

Later on once Lila had calmed down and felt like facing people again. She walked down the stairs she wondered if her parents were home they worked a lot so she was used to being alone.

She slowly walked down the stairs and began to look around the house but every room she looked in was empty. There was just her as usual. She sighed and walked back up to her bedroom. She still wasn't used to the new house and it felt creepy being alone in it.

Soon after she had done some homework she had to do, she was pretty annoyed that she had homework and it had been her first day at the school and her day had turned into the worst day of her life.

She decided to go to bed, sleeping was better than listening to her thoughts. It the same things racing around her mind.

Lila tried to sleep but she couldn't too many thoughts were filling up her head. She stared at the ceiling and tried to block them out but that didn't work she shifted in her bed and stared across at the window, tiny rays of light poured in through the crack at the bottom of the curtain.

She found herself crawling out of bed and she shivered as the coldness hit her, it was much warmer under the blankets. She went and sat on the window seat pulling up the curtain. She stared down at the dark streets of Paris. She hugged a pillow tightly.

Streetlamps managed to light up the city outside and Lila could see from afar that there was still some people out and about in the night. She saw people in groups of friends she hugged the pillow tighter. Then she stood up she knew what she had to do.

On nights like this when her mind was too filled with thoughts she liked to write. She dropped the cushion on the floor and walked to her desk and pulled open the drawer, pulling out a black notebook and a black pen.

She took it back to the window seat, stepping over the cushion she had dropped. She sat down and stared out at the city of Paris, the moon shone down bathing the room in a peaceful glow.

Lila felt a small smile appeared on her face as she opened the notebook to a clean page. As soon as the pen touched the page she felt her feelings travel through it and appeared on the paper.

Her feelings of sadness and loneliness appeared as she continued to write.

 _I hate the nights when I feel so empty and out of place, I don't belong anywhere._

 _I hate the nights where my mind wanders to the unknown and all I return with is sadness._

 _I hate that the only thing I have to comfort me is my loneliness and the tears that fall down my cheeks._

 _I hate it all._

Lila shut the notebook no one knew that she liked to write her feelings down she could imagine them all laughing at her and she didn't like that. She returned the notebook and pen to the drawer and then climbed back into bed.

She snuggled down and tried to sleep. She had school tomorrow whether she liked it or not.

* * *

 **I am trying to avoid spoilers I'm waiting to the 26th when it comes out in French and hopefully later English subtitles. This fic is not going to be related to canon (mostly cause I don't like the way canon is going) I hope you'll enjoy this fanfiction.**


	3. A new day, A new chance

Lila walked into the school keeping her eyes glued to the floor maybe if she didn't see them she could pretend everyone wasn't looking at her, hating her, judging her.

It was no use she could still feel their stares burning into her. She could still hear the whispers as they got louder and louder in her head.

" _She's such a liar" "can you believe what she did to poor Adrien" "I bet you her name isn't even Lila!"_

Lila was just about to consider turning back around and running straight out of the school when a voice chirped, "Hi there, you must be Lila right?"

Lila looked up from the ground and was met with sky blue eyes and a friendly smile.

She felt a flicker of hope _'maybe I can finally make a friend'_

While Lila did not feel confident in the slightest she put on her best confident smile, she was nothing if not a good actress.

"Yes, I'm Lila Rossi and you are?"

"I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, it's nice to finally meet you"

Lila took a closer look at the petite girl, Marinette had Midnight blue hair which was tied back in pigtails. Her eyes were a bluebell blue and she continued to smile at Lila.

' _Is this girl an angel?'_

Then realisation dawned on Lila _'She said it's nice to finally meet you that means she knows about what I did'_ Lila looked at Marinette with sad eyes her smile disappearing.

"I'm guessing you heard about what happened"

Marinette gave a sad smile "Yes, but it's a new day"

Lila smiled this girl was so nice she hadn't expected anyone to forgive her at least not this quickly.

"Now come on We don't want to keep Miss Bustier waiting…She hates it when I'm late which is what I am most of the time" Marinette laughed.

Lila felt a small laugh escape her. _'Maybe today won't be so bad'_ Lila thought as that flicker of hope grew stronger inside her.

Lila walked into the classroom behind Marinette. Fear built inside of her again. Then she heard Marinette whisper "That seat down the back beside Nathanael is free" She looked at Marinette who gave her a small encouraging smile.

"Thank you," Lila said, she didn't just mean for telling her where to sit she also meant for being the first person who was kind to her.

Marinette seemed to catch onto that as her eyes shined happily "There's no need to thank me"

Marinette walked to her seat beside her auburn haired friend, Alya Lila remembered her name she had been one of the people she had lied to. If she had known that lie would have cost her the most maybe she would have stopped herself from saying it but sadly she couldn't turn back time.

She saw Alya giving her a glare before whispering to Marinette. Lila decided to ignore that and walked on down to the back seat. She saw the boy Marinette had mentioned, Nathanael that was what she called him.

Nathanael was currently drawing in a sketchbook so Lila couldn't really see his face but that red-hair looked familiar which Lila found strange as she didn't remember talking or well lying to anyone with red-hair yesterday.

She reached the desk and bite her lip nervously as she considered what to say "Um…I hope you don't mind if I sit here?"

Nathanael looked up and then Lila realised where she knew him from he was the boy from the street.

Nathanael's eyes widened as he also recognised Lila from yesterday. He said nothing about it. He just nodded and quietly said "sure"

Lila gave a relieved smile as she sat down.

* * *

Alya turned to Marinette with a glare "What are you doing talking to the Liar?" she hissed.

"Alya don't be mean" Marinette scolded.

Alya continued to glare.

"Alya, everyone deserves a second chance," Marinette said.

Alya's face softened as she finally nodded in agreement. "Mari, Your too good for this world you know that"

Marinette laughed "Shut up, you dork" she gave her friend a gentle shove.

Alya laughed.

Though she had helped Lila out a bit Marinette still felt guilty. She still found it wrong of Lila to have lied to everyone but it had been mean of her to lose her cool like she had. Now everyone hated Lila. Marinette was set on succeeding her new mission of helping Lila make some friends and hopefully not get akumatised again.

Marinette smiled to herself _'Nothing could go wrong right?'_

* * *

Lila walked out of the classroom and was walking down the hall when she heard her name being called out. She froze sure that it was someone coming to shout at her for lying. _'May as well get it over with…it was hardly like everyone was going to forgive me'_

Lila turned around and was met with a hug. She looked down at the blonde haired girl that was hugging her.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked in surprise.

Rose broke away from the hug looking up at Lila with wide periwinkle eyes "It's called a hug, Lila…I hugged you"

"I know that…it's just…do you not hate me?" Lila asked.

"No of course not, I'm more upset that you felt the need to lie to me…did you think I wouldn't like you?" Rose asked.

"Um…well, yeah kind of," Lila said, shifting on her feet nervously.

Then a tall girl with long raven black hair with violet tips came up behind her. Lila remembers seeing her yesterday but she had forgotten her name.

"See, Juleka we're right she isn't mean," Rose said, turning to the Tall girl.

Lila was taken aback how did anyone think she was mean? But she decided to ignore that and stay quiet.

"Well, Lila maybe we should start over" Juleka smiled.

"I would like that very much" Lila smiled shyly back.

"Yay! We can be friends then" Rose said, pulling Lila into another hug.

Lila giggled. _'Where are all these angels coming from?"_ she thought to herself shocked that people actually wanted to be friends with her after what she had done.

"But Lila please never lie to us again," Juleka said.

Rose let Lila go and nodded "She's right, you don't need to lie to make friends"

Lila looked down at the ground "Of course, I'm really sorry for lying…I promise never to do it again"

Lila looked back up and was met with Rose and Juleka's kind gazes and smiled back in relief that they weren't angry.

"That's good enough for me! Now come on let's get to next class" Rose said, she walked down the hall a skip in her step. Juleka followed behind her smiling down at the petite girl.

Lila started walking behind them a bit slower she was happy for their friendship but she was still unsure. How did she know they really meant it maybe this was a huge trick to get back at her? First Marinette and now Rose and Juleka this was too good to be true right?

"You okay, Lila?"

Lila broke away from her thoughts and was met with Rose's warm smile and her doubt vanished as she smiled back, a genuine smile.

"Yes, everything's Okay"

* * *

Marinette watched Lila walk off with Rose and Juleka a happy smile on her face. Her plan had worked, she knew that Rose and Juleka would be good friends for Lila so she had asked them if they could go and talk to Lila and then they would see how sorry she was.

' _Obviously, I'll still be Lila's friend but it's better if she has other friends…if it accidentally comes out I'm ladybug who knows how she'll react? She probably still hates me'_ Marinette mused with a sigh.

Still, she had done the best she could it wasn't like she could do anything more.

"Marinette!" Alya said, waving a hand in front of Marinette's face shocking her out of her thoughts.

"Wahh!" Marinette exclaimed.

Alya laughed "what's up with you? Usually, you only daze out when Adrien's around" Alya quickly looked around the courtyard to see if Adrien was around.

"I was thinking," Marinette said with an embarrassed blush.

"Yeah well, you can think in next class which we are going to be late for," Alya said walking on.

Marinette walked quickly to catch up with her just as the bell rang.

* * *

Lila walked into Ms. Mendeleiev's class behind Rose and Juleka.

"Lila do you want to sit beside me?" Rose asked then she turned to Juleka "that's if you don't mind Juleka?"

Juleka smiled "of course not"

Lila smiled "thank you, Rose I would like to sit beside you"

"Great! Come on" Rose grabbed Lila's Hand and dragged her the table. Lila sat down beside Rose and noticed Juleka had gone to sit beside Nathanael.

Then there was a loud thud. Lila quickly looked at the door and saw Marinette getting up off the floor with the help of her friend, Alya.

"It looks like you can't do anything right, Marinerd!" Chloe cackled from her seat.

The class all turned glares on her.

' _Who does she think she is talking to angel, Marinette like that'_ Lila thought as she looked at Chloe with a venomous glare.

"Isn't it a little early for your nastiness, Chloe?" Alya said a scowl gracing her features.

"Alya, leave her she's not worth it" Marinette muttered.

Alya looked at Marinette and nodded they started walking to their seats.

"Hah! See, Sabrina, Marinerd is nothing without her idiot friend" Chloe said loud enough so the class could hear.

Alya turned around to say something when a voice cut in "stop being so mean, Chloe!"

Everyone's attention turned to the door where Adrien stood glaring at Chloe. He walked further in still looking at Chloe with a disappointed glare.

Before anyone could say anything else Ms. Mendeleiev walked in "What's everyone standing about for? Get in your seats this instant" she scolded. "This isn't a playground" she muttered.

Everyone who wasn't already sitting quickly got into their seats as Ms. Mendeleiev walked up to the board and started the day's lesson.

Lila went home for lunch. Today had been good so far she had expected everyone to hate her and possibly ignore or bully her and she knew they would be in their right to. What she had done hadn't been the smartest of mistakes and she was going to be very sorry about lying for a long time.

She had friends now in Rose and Juleka and Marinette too. Marinette had even come up to her during one of the classes and asked if everything was ok so far. Lila had told her everything was fine which Marinette had been happy to hear then she had to go as Alya had shouted for her to come.

Yes, everything was fine she just had to try and get rid of all these doubts and negative thoughts that were floating about in her mind.

Lila had learned that Rose and Juleka were probably the sweetest girls in the whole school. They had helped so much throughout the day. People had given disappointed looks or glared at Lila as she had walked through the halls but when Rose saw that it was bothering her she always smiled and grabbed her hand telling her to hurry up to class, Juleka though she was sweet also knew how to do the scariest death glares which she had done to all the people who had whispered hateful things about Lila as they passed, though it was a bit too loud to be actually considered a whisper. She had also found out that Juleka and she liked the same book series and they had talked a lot about it.

Lila had found herself asking about Nathanael. The Italian had found herself glancing at Nathanael, she had sat beside him in many classes, He seemed to be a loner, always sitting on his own drawing away in his sketchbook and not talking to very much people unless he had to ask a question and even then his voice came out quiet and unsure as if he wasn't used to talking. He looked to Lila more fragile than the glass fox that sat on her bedroom dresser at home. It was hard to get his attention under his long bang of red hair that dominates half of his face, only revealing one ocean blue eye. Lila noticed how he held himself like he's trying to even less space than he already does and his clothes looked at least a size too big, only exaggerating his skinniness. He looked so lost, so alone. Lila wanted to know him better maybe it was because she also felt lost and alone no matter how many people she was surrounded by, she related to him in that sense.

So Lila finally decided to ask the girls did they know anything more about Nathanael. They had told her he was very shy and usually liked to draw more than taking part in conversations.

"So how was your first day back so far?" Mia, her father's assistant asked.

"It went fine," Lila said, she hadn't told Mia about the fact she had lied to everyone in school not that she would have been able to help if she had.

"That's good…any new friends," Mia asked, pushing a stray blonde lock of hair behind her ear.

Lila gave a genuine smile "Yes I made two new friends…a girl called Rose and another girl called Juleka…there very kind"

Mia smiled, happy to hear Lila was settling in okay she knew in the past Lila had always struggled to try and fit in at new schools.

"How are things with the Adrien boy? I remember your Father wanted you two to be friends for some reason" Mia asked.

Lila found herself tensing at the mention of Adrien, it was true that her father wanted her to be friends Adrien and she had been happy to try and be friends with Adrien because it was true she may have had a little crush on the boy but you couldn't blame her! He was a model half of Paris had crushes on the boy. Lila knew her father probably thought it would help him get closer to even richer people if she and Adrien had been close. Lila rolled her eyes in annoyance she sometimes felt like nothing but a pawn to her father.

He told her that she should always make a good impression and if that meant stretching the truth then it was okay everybody else was doing it so why shouldn't they. A little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone but her father had been wrong it did hurt someone and that someone was usually you.

"Um now if you'll excuse me, I really should be heading back to school. If you can please tell the driver."

Mia looked a bit taken back by Lila's sudden order.

"But, Lila you have twenty-minutes left of your break. You will get there very early."

She locked eyes with Mia and loosened her tense shoulders. She was preparing herself for putting on an act, as usual. A forced smile grew on her lips as she got up from her seat. She really didn't want to talk or even think about Adrien at the moment. Her feelings were a painful mess and she always found it hard dealing with her problems instead she would push it away and hope it would disappear on its own.

"I just remembered that I need to look for a book in the library, if I leave now it will give me enough time to look for it before class starts."

"Lila-"

"Please, Mia? I really should get going."

The woman was still seated, her eyes following the girl as she went to retrieve her bag from one of the chairs at the front of the table. Lila knew that Mia caught her lie, but the woman still didn't question things any further.

"Of course. Right away."

The car ride back was slow due to the traffic so Lila found herself putting in her earphones and Listening to music that reminded her of Italy. It made her feel nostalgic and sad.

Paris was so different from Genoa, where she had grown up in Italy. Lila was finding it hard to adjust.

Paris always seemed somewhat dark and grey nothing like Italy. She couldn't help but think of Genoa and all the things she loved and missed about it.

She missed the smell of the sand, sand that would stick to her feet and rub against her skin, the sand that would get caught in the stones outside her house. She missed the Sun, there wasn't much sun in Paris only the rare glimpses it was just dark grey clouds at this time of year, they rolled over the sky bringing the thick smell of a coming thunderstorm. She also missed the nights sitting outside, the wind carrying the scent of lemons from the tree in her Nonna's backyard but mostly she missed the feeling of belonging.

The car stopped and Lila realised they had reached the school. She took out her earphones putting her phone back in her bag before stepping out of the car and thanking the driver.

She walked back up the steps of the school building as the driver pulled away. Lila sighed she knew she would have to put her feelings of homesickness to the back of her mind they were in Paris for good and the faster she got used to that the better it would be for everyone.

She saw a few students milling about in the halls but the school was mainly empty. Lila breathed a sigh of relief it felt nice to walk to the class without the judging stares and the bit too loud to be called a whisper rude comments directed towards her.

Lila was glad she had managed to make friends with Marinette, Juleka and Rose but she had no idea if they would stick around for long. They were sure to get sick of her and then they would abandon her.

Lila shook her head. She couldn't think like that. She was already ruining her chances of real friendship.

She finally made it to the classroom and gently pushed the door open. When she saw that familiar red hair, it looks like she wasn't the only one who wanted to get there early.


	4. Friendship can be found in foxes

Lila walked into the classroom and saw Nathanael was also back early from lunch. She looked around and saw no one else was back.

She walked up to her seat. Nathanael didn't notice her too concentrated on his drawing then she noticed he was also listening to music.

She sat down beside him. He glanced up finally noticing her but he retreated back into his work very quickly.

' _The girls were right when they said he was shy'_ Lila thought with a gentle smile. _'Unless maybe he just doesn't like me?'_ that thought made Lila feel nervous knots in her stomach she didn't want him to hate her. Lila wanted to know more about Nathanael he seemed interesting.

She gently tapped his arm to get his attention. He looked at her a shy blush spreading over his face. He took out his earphones.

"S-Sorry is something wrong?" he asked quietly.

Lila smiled "No, I just wanted to talk to you… we are desk mates it would be weird if we never talked to each other don't you think?"

Nathanael looked down at his sketchbook "I guess…sorry" he muttered.

"What are you sorry for?" Lila asked.

"Um…nothing…sorry" Nathanael said his face turning red.

Lila nodded her head "okay" then her attention fell on his sketchbook "What were you drawing?" she asked.

She saw Nathanael go tense and his cheeks began to go red again.

Lila found it adorable how flustered he got but she didn't want to scare him off. She wanted to be friends with him but she didn't want to force friendship on him if he didn't want to be friends with her she understood after all she was just a liar to everybody now.

"Sorry I didn't mean to annoy you if you don't feel like talking to me…I understand" she went to search in her bag for her notebook mostly to avoid looking at Nathanael.

"Wait…I didn't mean to appear like I didn't like you" Nathanael said.

Lila looked back up at Nathanael he looked at her with wide turquoise eyes (well one eye as the other was covered by his long bang of red hair).

"It's just I'm not that confident of my work…I didn't want you to laugh at it" Nathanael confessed.

"I wouldn't laugh at it! You're probably way better than me" Lila smiled.

Nathanael smiled back he took his pencil off the page he had laid it on and closed his sketchbook and slowly pushed it over "well okay…but there's a lot of unfinished sketches so I-I'm sorry about the um sloppiness of the lines." He spoke lowly in a humble tone.

Lila smiled in excitement when she placed her hand gently on the cover of the sketchbook. She didn't know what to expect from the red-haired artist but she was thinking it would be simple small sketches or possibly something relating to anime.

What she didn't expect was the very well-drawn drawings of random landscapes, nature and people that had her eyes widening in shock. There was so much detail in each sketch.

She had no idea the boy sitting beside her had so much talent it amazed and stunned her as she continued gently going through the book. She didn't want to crumple a single page or smudge any of the masterpieces she saw.

Lila did find some pages with small comic strips of made-up characters, she assumed, but even they were well drawn and she found herself reading them and instantly wanting to read and see more. She finally came to the last page and closed the book gently.

"So um what do you think of them?"

"Honestly, these are probably some of the best drawings I've ever seen." She said looking at the Nathanael with a kind and genuine smile.

His blue eye's widened again and his face turned a deep red. He quickly ducked his head and looked away, wanting to hide his expression for some reason.

"Thanks but its okay I um can take criticism you know."

Lila gently placed her left hand on his, and he nearly jumped out of his seat in shock.

"L-Lila?"

He was looking at her now with wide eyes. The poor boy looked like he was going to melt his face was heating up that much.

She didn't pull her hand away and his body stiffened under her touch.

"Nathanael, if I say something is good, I seriously mean it!"

Before Nathanael could say anything back more classmates came into the classroom. Lila finally removed her hand from Nathanael's. He quickly retreated back into himself.

Ivan walked up to his seat and noticed Nathanael's red face. "Nathan, You okay?" he asked.

Nathanael looked at Ivan in surprise and glanced at Lila. Lila pretended not to notice searching through her bag for her notebook.

"Uh yeah," Nathanael responded. He quickly took back his sketchbook flipping back to the last page he was working on.

Lila didn't say anything more to him during the class they worked in silence beside each other though Nathanael felt himself stealing glances at Lila throughout the class.

' _Had she really meant it when she said my sketches were good?'_ Nathanael found himself thinking. Then he sighed why did he care so much? He decided to block out all his thoughts and he concentrated on his sketches.

The bell rang for the end of class and Lila quickly packed away her things. She looked up to say bye to Nathanael and saw he was already off out the door.

' _Wow,…he couldn't get away fast enough…I hope I'm not annoying him'_

"Lila, you coming?" Rose said cutting into her thoughts. Lila looked up with a smile at Rose and Juleka.

"Yeah, sorry I got lost in my thoughts" Lila giggled, she walked out of the class with the girls.

"No worries," Juleka said.

"I get lost in my thoughts all the time" Rose chirped "though they're usually to do with love or what we're going to do next in the scrapbooking club…I hope we get to do something about love next"

"You really like love, huh," Lila said.

"Well, of course, Love brings peace to the world don't you think that's lovely?" Rose asked looking at Lila with wide periwinkle eyes.

"I suppose it does, what do you think Juleka?" Lila asked, turning to look at the tall girl.

"I think it sounds lovely too, of course," Juleka said with a gentle smile.

"Yay! I love it when people think love is the best" Rose said hugging Juleka.

Juleka smiled down at the petite girl. Lila saw that a blush was on her face. _'They are such a cute couple'_

"Now let's go to class and spread more Love!" Rose said, she began to skip her way to the class.

Lila and Juleka followed at a slower pace both smiling at Roses optimistic attitude.

* * *

Lila walked down the steps of the school heading home when she saw Nathanael sitting at the corner of the steps, alone and drawing as usual. She found herself walking towards him. "Hey, Nathanael"

Nathanael jumped and looked around. Seeing Lila he relaxed a bit "Oh…Hello, Lila"

Lila walked closer and sat down on the cold steps beside the boy. "What you doing out here alone?" she asked.

"J-just drawing" Nathanael stuttered not looking up to meet Lila's gaze.

Lila started to laugh "I can see that…I meant…" Lila sighed wondering how to put it and not come across rude then she realised she had never been one not to be blunt what was stopping her now?

"You're always alone and I don't mean to seem rude or interfering but don't you have anyone you hang about with"

Lila saw Nathanael's face go red "I don't mind being alone" he muttered. Then he looked at Lila with a glare "I do have friends you know!"

Lila bit back a smirk he looked adorable angry "I never said you didn't…but may I ask who these friends are?"

"Well, Ivan's my friend…though he's usually busy with Mylene nowadays" Nathanael said.

"Oh! He's the one who always looks kinda grumpy and is really tall and is dating that really cute small girl" Lila said with a happy clap.

"Yeah that's the one," Nathanael said with a smile at Lila's childish excitement of being right.

"Anyone else?" she asked.

"Well…I suppose I'm friendly with…Rose and Juleka" Nathanael said still in thought.

"Yes, they are so kind and generous…and they make the cutest couple" Lila nodded

"Yeah, they do…I saw that they've become friends with you" Nathanael said.

"Yeah they have" Lila smiled happily.

There was a moment of silence before Lila finally spoke again.

"So can you add me to your list of friends?" Lila asked

"W-what?" Nathanael asked looking at Lila in shock.

"Only if you want to of course," Lila said much shyer than before.

"You actually want to be friends with me?" Nathanael asked in disbelief.

"Sure! Why wouldn't I?" Lila said.

"It's just…not many people want to be my friend…I kind of have trouble being social" Nathanael muttered a shy blush on his cheeks.

"Well, I still want to be your friend so what you say?" Lila asked, her green eyes sparkled in the light.

A soft smile appeared on Nathanael's face and he nodded "Sure I'd like to be friends with you"

Lila smiled "Great"

Then they heard voices behind them.

"T-thanks for h-helping me, Adrien"

Lila and Nathanael turned to look behind them and saw Marinette and Adrien walking out the school doors.

"No problem, Sorry that I had to step in for Alya she was busy right?" Adrien asked.

Lila saw Adrien and quickly looked away her body tensing up. Seeing him just reminded her of that day and she wanted to forget it. She wanted to hate Adrien how he had done nothing to stand up for her when Ladybug was insulting her but instead of hating him she hated herself. Every time she saw him that awful feeling came back and she had to stop herself from crying or lashing out in anger.

"Oh, Y-yeah Alya is busy not that I minded after all you're so perfect…I mean P-perfect at h-helping me with physics" Marinette stuttered with an awkward laugh her face turning red.

' _Damn Marinette's got it bad'_ was all Lila could think.

Adrien let out a laugh "Thanks, Marinette" he began to walk down the steps with Marinette and saw Lila and Nathanael.

"Oh, Hello Nathanael…and Lila" he said Lila's name slowly.

Lila looked up and saw Adrien was looking at her warily, he obviously didn't forgive her. Before Lila could say anything a white limousine pulled up and Adrien was already walking to it "Bye Marinette" he said before getting into the car.

Marinette stared after the car with a blush before letting out a squeal, then she froze remembering that people were around. She looked at Lila and Nathanael who were looking at her with raised eyebrows.

Marinette let out an awkward laugh "Hey, guys…forgot you were there…I'm just going to go now" then Marinette was off running down the street home.

Nathanael and Lila were silent for a few seconds before Lila spoke.

"She's weird…but a good weird"

"Um…yeah," Nathanael said.

"Well I better be getting home myself," Lila said standing up.

"Oh, Bye Lila," Nathanael said.

"Bye, Nathanael see you tomorrow," Lila said with a smile before walking away.

* * *

Lila arrived home and was surprised to see her father's car parked outside.

' _He's home? That's strange"_

Lila walked into the front hall and Mia rushed up to her "Lila your father wants to see you"

Lila face must have conveyed how shocked she was for Mia reassured her "Don't worry I'm sure it's nothing bad"

Lila nodded and made her way to her father's study. She reached the large oak door and was about to knock before she paused then she took a deep breath before carrying through.

Once she had knocked a voice shouted out "Come in" Lila turned the handle and walked into the room.

Luca Rossi looked up from his computer screen and smiled when he saw Lila walk in. "Ah, Lila I wanted to talk to you"

Lila stood up straight and tall. She looked her Father directly in the eye, her father taught her to stand straight as slouching showed weakness as did not looking someone in the eye.

Lila remembers what he had told her as a child whenever he could be bothered to see her. _"You got to look them in the eye to show them you mean business if you don't they'll just walk all over you"_

Lila tried to follow her father's advice though she did find herself questioning his methods at times.

"What is it you wish to speak to me about, Father?"

Luca Rossi Laughed and gestured to a chair "You can sit, Mio Cara"

Lila nodded and sat down on a chair facing her father.

"Now how was school?" Her father asked Lila was amazed to see his green eyes held concern for once.

"It was alright" Lila responded, she didn't wish to tell him about the mess her lies had caused he would probably just get angry.

Her Father nodded "I see…the work is not too hard for you?"

"No, I am doing quite well in all my classes," Lila said, this was not a lie her parents expected nothing but the best from their daughter so all through her life she had worked hard to maintain on top despite the constant changes of school.

"That's what I like to hear though I would expect nothing less from you, Lila" Luca smiled proudly at his daughter.

"How are things with Adrien Agreste? You are still close to him I hope"

Lila tensed in her seat this was what she was hoping to avoid she couldn't fully lie to her father he would catch on she had learnt from the best and he knew it when she lied.

She glanced down at the floor and started to fiddle with her bracelets "Well…um…the thing is…" she looked back up "I think Adrien no longer wishes to be friends with me"

Luca Rossi ran a hand through his thick black hair and sighed "And why do you think that, Lila?" Lila could hear a hint of anger rising in his voice. She gulped and thought through her answer very carefully.

"Well, he already has so many friends being a model so I just don't fit into his friend group" Lila lied adding in a chuckle at the end to make it more believable.

Her Father fell silent and Lila hoped he couldn't hear how fast her heart was beating. Lying to her Father was a risk he was sure to notice.

"I see well I know that you may find it hard to fit into his group of friends but I thought you knew better than to just give up?" Luca asked.

Lila managed to fake a smile "Of course, I will try harder to fit in"

"Good, you may leave now," Her father said bluntly as he returned his attention to his computer.

Lila walked to the door quietly even though she felt like yelling at him. He didn't care at all about her he only cared about how he could use Lila to gain himself more popularity and when she seemed useless to him he ignored her and only cared about his work.

She walked out the door and shut it. Breathing a sigh of relief once she knew he couldn't hear.

"Everything okay, Lila?"

Lila nearly jumped at the voice she turned to see her Mother, Rosetta Rossi looking at her.

Everyone always remarked how alike she looked to her mother, the only difference being her Mother having Brown eyes while Lila had her father's green eyes.

Lila nodded "Everything's fine" but a frown was still on her face.

"Don't frown so much you'll get wrinkles," Her mother said coming closer to Lila and rubbing Lila's forehead.

Lila stepped back and refused the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother always went on about looks, one time Lila couldn't be bothered dressing up and seeing how she wasn't going out anywhere, she had walked into the kitchen in an oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts to get a glass of juice.

Her Mother had just had to walk into the kitchen she saw what Lila was wearing and nearly fainted, Lila would have preferred if she had fainted but instead she had shouted at Lila to put on some proper clothes they didn't buy her expensive clothes just so she could be seen in such unflattering Clothes, not that anyone was around to see her. Lila had gone back to her bedroom in a sulk before finally changing into something her mother would approve of.

"What did Luca want to see you about?" Rosetta asked.

"He was asking about school" Lila replied.

"And how is school? Are you settling in ok" Her mother asked passing a hand gently over Lila's cheek, though her mother was rather vain and with her consent habit of looking in the mirror that made Lila when she was younger think her mum may have been the evil queen from the storybooks she loved to read so much but Lila had pushed that thought away as her mother though she wasn't around too much to show it was caring and kind she really only wanted the best for her daughter.

"Schools fine…it did take me awhile to settle in but everything's fine now" Lila said with a gentle smile.

Rosetta smiled down at her daughter "I'm glad to hear that…you know if anything's bothering you, you can always talk to me"

"Yes, Mum I know," Lila said.

Rosetta sighed "Lila, I know you aren't too happy with all the moving we have to do but your Fathers new job brings in more money, so we plan on staying here for a long time, okay?"

"I know that you've said that before," Lila said "Now can I go to my room?"

Rosetta nodded and Lila turned to walk to her room "Lila!" Rosetta called after her.

Lila stopped and looked around at her mum "yes?"

"Lila…actually it doesn't matter," Rosetta said before walking away.

Lila stared after her Mother confused before shrugging and walking to her room.

Lila sat on her bed and took her phone out, luckily she hadn't broken it when she threw it in a rage last time but there was a little crack appearing at the edge of it,

A text appeared from Rose. Lila had added Rose and Juleka into her contacts.

 _Hey, Lila, I was wondering if u want to be added into the class groupchat?_

Lila frowned she didn't know if that was wise. She was unsure if the whole class had forgiven her yet they hadn't said anything outright mean to her yet well Chloe had tried by coming up to her when she was alone but Lila had quickly shut her down by saying _"I'm busy right now Can I ignore you some other time?"_ Chloe had looked at her in anger and shock before storming off and muttering insults under her breath.

Though some of the class still seemed uneasy around her and Lila didn't think she was paranoid. She sighed and typed back a text.

 _Do you really think they'd be ok with it? I don't want to make things awkward for everyone._

Lila pressed send and was surprised to get a text back so quickly.

 _Ur being silly! It'll be fine everyone knows you're sorry for what you've done._

Lila smiled. Rose was very sweet and possibly Naïve. Lila wished she could feel so confident in the class's forgiveness. She had done a bad thing and she knew that now but there was no going back If only she could find a time machine.

Then another text appeared from Rose and Lila found herself giggling as she read it.

 _Jule told me to say Chloe is in the groupchat too and everyone will much rather have you over her. And that you'll bring much better conversation than the blond rat…don't tell anyone I called her that or well jule did._

Lila typed back a reply and pressed send before she had the chance to change her mind.

 _Well, when u put it like that how can I refuse? Sure add me in._

Lila bit her lip when her phone pinged notifying her that rose had added her to the groupchat.


	5. Silver Linings

Nathanael came home from school and entered the flat.

"Hey, Nathanael did you have a good day?" His mum asked as he entered the kitchen.

"I guess," he said as he searched in the cupboards for something to eat.

He heard his mum mutter "teenagers" he looked at her with a glare.

She smiled at him "So nothing interesting happen?"

"I suppose I made a new friend" Nathanael responded, grabbing a bag of crisps from the cupboard.

His mum gasped, her vibrant red curls bouncing as she walked nearer her son "A new friend? Is it a girl?"

Nathanael sighed and rolled his eyes "What's it matter if they are?"

His mother's teal eyes twinkled mischievously "So it is a girl"

"Yes, her name is Lila and she moved here from Italy," Nathanael said.

"Italian huh, I heard they make good lovers" his mum giggled.

" _MUM!_ " Nathanael shouted his face turning red as he quickly walked to the door.

"I'm Just saying" His mum shouted after him with a laugh.

"Well Don't!" Nathanael shouted back as he went to his room.

Nathanael was sitting by his desk drawing when he heard a notification on his phone he checked it and saw that Rose had added a new Member to the class group chat.

 _Flowerchild (Rose Lavilliant) has added +33698453 to the group chat class._

' _I wonder who that is'_ Nathanael thought to himself. Suddenly a message came in from the number.

 _Thanks for adding me to the chat. Said the message._

 _Your welcome_ responded Rose.

 _Now ur a fully-fledged member of the class said a user named MirrorWitch which Nathanael knew was Juleka._

' _So they added Lila to the groupchat'_ He thought as he read the message. Then he clicked on her number to see if he was correct and he saw that it was Lila just as he had thought. Her profile picture was of her wearing an orange and white flower crown.

 _Who the hell is RossiFox? Texted somebody named QueenBourgeois._

Nathanael rolled his eyes. He had no idea why they kept her in the chat sure she was part of the class but she was horrible and the reason most of the fights started in the chat.

 _That's Lila obvs maybe u need a new brain, Chloe? Ladyblogger responded which was Alya._

 _Unlike yours my brain is fine. QueenBourgeois replied._

 _Wow, guys let's not fight! UnderAgreste replied._

 _FlowerChild sent a message I agree we're not making a good impression on Lila._

Nathanael smiled it was always up to the two of them to stop the fights not that they were successful much.

Then another message from Lila appeared. _No_ , _Please continue this is hilarious._

 _QueenBourgeois: Oh shut up and go back to eating pasta in your gondola._

 _RossiFox: Okay, but let me shove some down your throat first._

Nathanael found himself laughing as he read the messages. Lila sure didn't take crap from anyone.

 _Ladyblogger: Yass! That's it Lila is officially my favourite in this chat_

 _FashionMonster: Hey! What about me?_

 _Ladyblogger: oops. After u of course, Mari_

 _Rockhard Bruel: Hey did anyone do the chem homework_

 _Skatergirl: I was just about to ask that._

Nathanael gasped as he remembered the chemistry homework he had yet to do. He had looked at it in class but it just made no sense to him and it wasn't like he didn't listen in class maybe he used to draw in that class but ever since he had been akumatised he had decided it was safer not to draw in that class.

Then Mylene sent a message to the group.

 _Goldilocks: I've done it I'll let you two copy it t-mor morning and then she added a smiley face emoji._

Nathanael wanted to ask to also copy the homework too but he was too shy and didn't want to bother anyone. Then another message appeared in his phone only this was in a new separate chat.

 _RossiFox: Hey, Nathanael_

Nathanael smiled. Lila had decided to text him then another text appeared.

 _RossiFox: Sorry if u think me texting is weird I got ur number from Rose._

Nathanael smiled ' _who knew she could be so shy'_ he typed back a message.

 _SuperNath: I don't think it's weird I am surprised u would want to text me_

 _RossiFox: why would I not we're friends right?_

Nathanael grinned he had never met anyone who had actually wanted to be his friend. The only reason he was friends with Ivan, Juleka, Rose and maybe Alix was because he had known them from age 4 and they had grown up together.

He sent a reply.

 _SuperNath: yeah, we're friends_

He waited for a reply but when he didn't get one he sighed and went back to his drawing. A few minutes later he got a reply. He looked at his phone.

 _RossiFox: Great! Also, have u done the work Miss Bustier gave us?_

 _SuperNath: Yeah. Why you need help?_

 _RossiFox: yeah I struggle with understanding some of the French._

 _SuperNath: I'll help you with it tomorrow_

 _RossiFox: Thanks. Do you need help with any of your work?_

Nathanael looked at the message and thought about asking her for help with his chemistry homework but what if she struggled with that subject too. He sighed and decided he would ask her anyway.

 _SuperNath: have u done the chem work?_

 _RossiFox: yeah u want to copy mine?_

 _SuperNath: u don't mind?_

 _RossiFox: course not, why would I?_

 _SuperNath: didn't want to be a nuisance._

 _RossiFox: you would never be a nuisance_

Nathanael smiled. He was glad Lila wanted to be his friend even though the class seemed wary of her. She was really nice. He sent one final text back.

 _SuperNath: Thanks_

Then he heard his mum calling him. He got up from his desk chair and went to see what the problem was.

He saw his mum packing her work bag. She looked and saw Nathanael.

"Looks like I'll be doing the overnight shift at the hospital, Maria fell sick and isn't able to make it in," His mum said with a rueful smile.

"Oh, Okay" Nathanael nodded.

"So if you're hungry there is food in the fridge and you know not to answer the door to strangers," His mum said.

Nathanael rolled his eyes "I'm fifteen, mum and why would I even answer the door I don't talk to people"

His mum laughed and kissed him on the forehead. "Be good" she said with a smirk as she walked to the door.

Nathanael sighed. Alone again not that he was too annoyed he was used to it his mum's job was stressful and caused her to work nights as well as days sometimes

He went back to his room to draw. He sat in his desk chair with his desk light lighting the place up and flicked to a clean page and began to sketch. He checked his phone for an image to see if he was getting the drawing right and smiled in relief when he saw he was accurate so far. He added in the flute that she carried as a weapon.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes before looking at the time and his eyes widened when he saw how late it had got. He decided it would be best to get to bed he had school tomorrow.

* * *

Nathanael woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock. He groaned he hated getting up early. He quickly put off the alarm and sat up pushing his hand through his messy hair and then rubbing his eyes.

He pushed the blankets off and got out of bed. He quickly got ready for school by taking a shower and put on his usual outfit. He combed his hair flat before rushing to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Soon enough Nathanael was coming out of the apartment door. He locked up knowing his mum was probably in bed after the night shift and started walking to school.

Nathanael blindly navigated his way through the crowds of students who were milling around in groups chatting. Nathanael paid no attention to them as he was as usual drawing. He was lost in his own world his eyes glued to his sketchbook causing him to nearly knock into a few students only they saw him coming and moved out of his way.

When he was walking up the steps to Miss Bustier's class. He was making the final adjustments to the girl's hair when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"So…what's up Nath?" a voice questioned near the entrance to the classroom "You have by some miracle managed not to trample anyone"

"Woah!" Nathanael said, jumping from shock.

The redhead clumsily tripped over his own two feet. His notebook and pencil slipped out of his hands, landing with a thud on the floor. He knew that he would be next. He should be used to the embarrassment by now it wasn't his first time being a Klutz. Just as he prepared to hit the hard floor he was surprised when he found sturdy arms wrapped around his torso. He was surprised at how strong Lila was though he knew pretty light.

"Sorry didn't know you got scared so easily, you're okay right?" Lila asked as she helped Nathanael stand back up.

Nathanael blushed and was about answer when Lila gasped

"Are those yours?" she asked looking at the sketchbook and pages scattered over the floor "here let me help you" she grinned as she reached for the nearest page.

She picked up the page and gasped "Is this the lead vocalist in Anonymous Noise"

Nathanael's eyes widened in shock Lila knew the band Anonymous Noise not many people knew of the band.

"Yes though I need to finish it…You know the band, Anonymous Noise?" He asked, as he quickly picked up his other pages and his sketchbook sighing in relief that she hadn't seen his drawing of Volpina. He still had to complete it and wanted it to be a surprise.

"Of course I do! What's your favourite song by them?" Lila asked looking at him with sparkling eyes.

Nathanael thought for a moment "hmm…I suppose I like White Noise the most" then he smiled "What's yours?"

"Definitely Broken Mirrors," Lila said "though I like Wild things a lot too"

Nathanael nodded he thought all the songs by Anonymous Noise were good.

Lila handed the page back to Nathanael and he tucked it carefully back into the sketchbook before walking with Lila into class.

"I find it really interesting how they all wear masks to hide their identities," Lila said as she sat down in the back desk beside Nathanael.

"Yeah though they could also be shy," he said.

Lila laughed "I don't think just wearing a mask would get rid of someone's shyness"

Nathanael thought about sure if he was wearing a mask he might feel more relaxed but that wouldn't stop him feeling nervous and anxious about messing up so he supposed Lila was right it wouldn't stop his shyness completely.

"Yeah I suppose you're right," Nathanael said.

"Hey Lila and Nathanael, you two seem to be getting along"

Nathanael looked to see Rose walking towards them Juleka walked behind her. She came to their desk with a bright smile.

"So what you talking about?" she asked.

"It appears me and Nathanael have the same music taste," Lila said

"Oh, that's great!" Rose said clasping her hands happily. "Me and Juleka have known each other for a long time but we never can agree on music" Rose giggled glancing at the tall girl standing beside her.

"Yes but we always seem to end up listening to the music you choose," Juleka said smiling down at Rose.

Rose laughed as she and Juleka walked to their seats due to the bell going off telling students to get to class.

"Oh! You wanted help with that chemistry homework" Lila said as she began to dig through her bag for the piece of homework. "Here we go," she said pulling the homework out and passing it over to Nathanael "some question answers may be wrong but I think I did okay with a lot"

Nathanael smiled at the Italian "Thanks for your help" he said as he got out the homework sheet and began to copy the answers down. He made sure to answer some incorrectly Ms. Mendeleiev would be suspicious if her worst student started answering every single question right. He passed back the sheet to Lila when he was finished.

"Nathanael would you mind if I sat beside you in science class?" she asked

"Of course not," Nathanael said.

When the bell went off for next class and Lila quickly caught up with Rose and Juleka "hey girls" she said to get their attention. They stopped and looked around at Lila.

"Oh sorry Lila I thought you were walking with Nath to class," Rose said.

"I was but then I thought I should tell you two that you can sit beside each other again in Ms. Mendeleiev's class," Lila said.

"Who are you going to sit beside?" Juleka asked.

"I'm sitting by Nathanael now" Lila smiled.

"So you two are friends now too?" Rose asked jumping on her tiptoes in excitement.

Lila giggled "Yeah, me and Nathanael are friends"

"That's great maybe you can help him become more confident, right Juleka? Lila is a great friend for Nathan" Rose turned to her Juleka with a grin.

Juleka nodded and smiled at Lila "Yeah she is"

Lila laughed "Thanks, girls"

Nathanael finally caught up with the girls "Why did you go rushing off?" he asked Lila.

"Sorry I was just telling Juleka she could sit beside Rose again in science class," Lila said.

"Okay," Nathanael said with a smile.

"Now let's go we're blocking the hallway," Juleka said walking on to class. Rose walked beside her.

Lila followed behind with Nathanael walking beside her

Lila walked into Ms. Mendeleiev's class and sat beside Nathanael like they had decided.

Ms. Mendeleiev came into the class and announced with a gleam in her eyes that they were having a test. The class, of course, started to panic.

Lila looked at Nathanael he had gone pale which was a surprise as he was already quite pale in complexion she hadn't thought it was possible for him to become any paler.

Then Chloe's voice sounded out "Ms Mendeleiev this simply isn't fair you never told us there would be a test today"

For once the class agreed with the mayor's daughter.

"The point of the test is to see what you know and am I not correct you should be studying every night?" she asked.

The class went quiet and avoided the teacher's direct gaze none of them were studying every night that would be silly they had others things to do.

"Sabrina hand these out," Ms. Mendeleiev said as she placed a heap of test paper in front of the ginger-haired girl.

Sabrina took the papers before getting out of her seat to hand out them out.

Lila wasn't too worried and if she did fail which was unlikely she could just say to the teacher that she had trouble understanding the French words. She was sure to get off without too much of a scolding.

Lila looked at Nathanael who was still a nervous wreck.

"Calm down Nath" she whispered.

Nathanael looked at her and tried to smile but wasn't too convincing.

"It won't be so bad if you don't get a good score," Lila said.

"I've failed every test so far I can't afford another bad grade" Nathanael mumbled.

"Oh!" Lila mumbled finally realising how bad Nathanael was at this subject.

Sabrina put 2 test papers in front of Lila and Nathanael before finally going back to her seat.

"Has everyone got a test paper?" Ms. Mendeleiev asked.

The class chorused "Yes"

"Good you may start but if I hear a whisper or catch any cheating I'm giving the whole class a fail" she warned looking over the class with a glare.

' _That seems kind of unfair'_ Lila thought as she opened her test paper and started to read the question carefully.

* * *

Lila walked out of the class with Nathanael walking slowly beside. The test had taken all the life out of him. They wouldn't know their scores until they got the tests back in their next Chemistry class.

"I'm sure you did fine," Lila said to the redhead boy.

"Well, at least someone's positive" Nathanael sighed sadly.

"If it's upsetting you, just forget about it" Lila smiled.

"Wish I could any moment she'll call me back and kill me!" Nathanael exaggerated.

Lila started laughing "And people think I'm a drama queen"

Nathanael glared at the Italian "you obviously don't know Mrs Very Well then"

Lila sighed and looked at Nathanael "You panic too much you need to relax"

Nathanael said nothing as he walked to next class.

"How about we make a deal," Lila said.

Nathanael looked at her curiously "What kind of deal?"

"I'll protect you against Ms. Mendeleiev if you draw me something" Lila smirked.

Nathanael rolled his eyes but smiled "And what would you have me draw for you?"

Lila shrugged "Haven't thought that far have I?"

Nathanael laughed "well when you do you can tell me"

"So you agree to the deal?" Lila asked.

"Sure I'd love to see Ms. Mendeleiev kill you" Nathanael smirked.

"Hey!" Lila complained as she gently shoved Nathanael.

Nathanael laughed.

"Since when were Nathanael and Lila friends?" Alya asked.

Marinette who was walking beside the auburn-haired girl looked in the direction where Alya was looking and saw Nathanael Laughing at Lila who was pretending to be annoyed but was smiling showing she didn't mean it.

"No idea though I did see her Talking to Nathanael outside the school yesterday," Marinette said.

Then Alya smirked, "Was this when you were with Adrien?"

Marinette blushed "Yes it was"

"You owe me for making that happen" Alya giggled.

"Which you never explained how!" Marinette exclaimed.

"Oh, I texted Adrien saying I had to babysit my sisters but I had promised to help you study so could he do it instead" Alya explained.

"And did you have to babysit your sisters?" Marinette asked.

"Nope. Mum had the day off so I went out with Nino but I made him promise not to tell Adrien which he found weird" Alya chuckled.

"So you chose your Boyfriend over me!" Marinette teased.

"How dare! I helped you out, Girl!" Alya smirked.

Marinette laughed before saying "Thanks, Alya"

"Anytime, Mari" Alya smiled as they walked into the class.

They were in the middle of Class when an Akuma burst through the door.

The teacher gasped as some of the class screamed well Rose and Mylene the rest of the class was used to this occurrence by now.

"Where is Chloe?" The Akuma shouted.

' _Wow, another Chloe fan''_ Lila thought sarcastically as she saw the angry girl standing at the door.

She was dressed in a large pink dress with lots of hearts decorated all around it. She had black gloves and black boots with red hearts at the top of each. Her pink hair was styled into two heart-shaped buns at either side of her head.

She pointed a gold sceptre with a ruby red heart at the top at Chloe angrily.

"I'll make you pay for ripping up my Love letter to Adrien!" the girl exclaimed.

Adrien gasped in surprise "Wait! What?"

The akumatised girl looked at Adrien "Don't Worry Adrien, we can have our happily ever after once I deal with this pest" she glared at Chloe.

' _Why does this always happen to me?'_ Adrien thought as he looked around for a way to escape unnoticed. He needed to transform and fast.

"Pest! Excuse you but I am the Mayor's daughter the only pest around here is you!" Chloe smirked.

' _That girl really doesn't have a brain. Why is she making an Akuma angrier? She's either Fearless or Foolish'_ Lila thought as she watched the Akumatised girl scream another Insult at Chloe.

Then she felt someone nudge her. She looked to see Nathanael

"Come on Lila" He whispered as he pointed to the emergency escape door which some classmates were sneaking out of and into the courtyard behind the school.

Lila nodded as she slowly got up, grabbing her satchel and walking out the door.

"Lila!" Alya said grabbing her as soon as she walked out the door.

"W-what?" Lila asked. A little nervous about how tightly Alya was gripping her arms.

"Have you seen Mari? One minute we were coming out the door talking the next minute she disappears!" Alya exclaimed.

"No I haven't seen her, sorry," Lila said.

Alya let her go and she sighed in relief. She hoped Alya hadn't left Bruises.

"Have you?" Alya asked looking at Nathanael.

"No, Sorry," He said quietly with a shake of his head.

Alya sighed "I better go look for her"

Before Alya could walk off looking for Marinette, Ladybug suddenly swooped in.

Lila felt herself freeze, heart, beating furiously in her chest. _'She's here to shout at me again…she's going to ruin everything'_

"I heard there was an Akuma around here," she said.

Alya gasped in awe reaching for her phone "Yeah it's in the classroom holding Adrien and Chloe hostage…kinda"

Ladybug nodded and looked at the class "You guys better get to safety while I deal with her"

Lila felt Nathanael grab her hand gently "You okay" he asked seeing her worried expression.

She managed a small smile "Yeah, I'm fine"

"It's just you've never been in an Akuma attack before right?" he asked as he quickly dragged her away.

"Uh…Yeah" Lila said, glad Nathanael had helped her with a lie she didn't want to say it was because seeing Ladybug brought back all the bad memories she would sound stupid.

Nathanael looked back at her with a smile "Don't worry you'll soon get used to it" he chuckled.

Lila smiled.

"So um where we going?" she asked.

"We can wait in the park for a while until it's over," Nathanael said.

"And when will we know it's over?" Lila asked

"Alya will keep us updated on the Ladyblog" Nathanael smirked.

Lila smiled "okay"

They reached a bench and Nathanael finally let go of Lila's hand with a blush.

Lila and Nathanael sat down and Nathanael reached into his satchel.

"So you going to draw, as usual, Picasso" Lila smirked.

Nathanael looked up at her a blush colouring his face "Yes, why? Does it annoy you…I'm sorry"

"What? No, you can draw whenever you want…I was only teasing, sorry" Lila said.

"Oh, right" Nathanael chuckled. He pulled out his sketchbook and flipped to a clean page.

"Why would it annoy me?" Lila asked.

Nathanael blushed and kept his head down some of his hair covering his face as he started to sketch on the page. "Sometimes people get annoyed that I'm always drawing even when I'm talking to them" he mumbled.

Lila nodded finally understanding "I see…well, I don't mind you drawing all the time so don't worry about that" Lila smiled.

Nathanael looked at her and smiled "Thank you, Lila"

"Tomorrow's Saturday…maybe I can finally go sightseeing" she said out loud to herself thoughtfully.

"You haven't seen all of Paris yet?" Nathanael asked.

Lila shook her head gently "No Guess I was just too busy…well that and I wouldn't know where to start off with"

"Oh well…do you want me to show you around?" he asked looking down at his sketchbook a small blush colouring his face.

Lila looked at him with a happy smile "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

Nathanael finally looked up at her with a gentle smile "Sure I've got nothing planned tomorrow anyway"

"Great…it'll be much more fun if you came with me!" Lila said.

Nathanael smiled as he went back to his drawing.

Rose watched Nathanael and Lila with a smile.

"It's Nice to see Nathan finding a good friend in Lila," Juleka said almost reading Rose's thoughts.

Rose nodded and turned to Juleka with sparkling eyes "And maybe they'll become more!"

"Rose" Juleka said warningly knowing where her girlfriend was going with this.

"You got to admit they would be a cute couple" she sighed dreamily before looking at Juleka again "And before you say their just friends remember we were friends before we fell in Love!" she clasped her hands together as she looked up at her girlfriend.

"Yeah, but they haven't known each other for as long a time as we did" Juleka pointed out.

Rose pouted and Juleka smiled down at her adorable girlfriend "So no matchmaking for a while, Okay?"

Rose nodded "Okay…your always so smart Juleka!" she said as hugged the taller girl.

Juleka smiled and hugged back a blush creeping into her cheeks.

Nathanael walked home from school. Ladybug had managed to defeat the akumatised girl even though Chat Noir had turned up very late and they had returned to class as usual. Now the school day was over and Nathanael was free until Monday.

He walked up to his apartment door and opened it walking in. He saw his mum walking into the living room.

His mum walked into the kitchen when she heard Nathanael at the cupboards.

"Did you have a nice day at school?" she asked.

"It was fine," Nathanael said as he grabbed a bag of crisps from the cupboard.

His mum nodded "So I'm guessing it's the usual stay in my bedroom all weekend?" she asked sitting down at the kitchen table.

"I'm going out tomorrow so you don't have to worry about me being stuck in my room," Nathanael said.

His mother looked at him in shock "Going out? Where? With who?" she asked in curiosity and panic.

"I'm going out with Lila, okay," he said

"Oh I see you're going on a date" his mum smirked.

Nathanael glared at his mum as his face turned red "It's not a date!"

"Are you sure? Your face is going very red" Miss Kurtzberg laughed.

"Mum seriously grow up," he said as he walked out of the room. His mum laughed.

"Okay, I'll stop teasing but I'm glad you've made such a nice friend" His mum shouted after him. She was glad that Nathanael had made a nice friend he never wanted to go out much but Lila seemed to be good for his confidence.

Nathanael rolled his eyes as he walked up the stairs to his room he knew his mum would be back on his case tomorrow no matter what she said. She was obsessed with his love life or well the lack thereof.


	6. Masterpiece

Lila began to search through her wardrobe she was hanging out with Nathanael and even though he was just a friend she had to look her best. Lila froze _'Oh God! I sounded like my mother'_ fear crept into her eyes before she shook it off with a laugh.

She decided to wear a thin red long sleeved top with a black skirt and tights and her usual brown boots. She then grabbed a black jacket, slipping it on. She combed and put her hair in its usual style.

Before heading down for breakfast. She entered the dining room and was surprised to see her Father was their eating breakfast he was usually away by now.

She sat down and poured some cereal and picked up the jug of milk pouting it over the cereal.

"Heading out today?" Her father asked.

Lila looked up and nodded "Yes, a friend is going to show me around Paris"

Her father smiled "I see. Would this friend be Adrien?"

"No" Lila responded bluntly before spooning up some of her cereal to eat.

Her father was a bit taken back that it wasn't Adrien. He gave a cough before asking "may I ask who this friend is?"

Lila swallowed the cereal before answering her Father "Nathanael…Nathanael Kurtzberg"

"Never heard of the family," Her Father said with a thoughtful look.

"Of course you haven't," Lila said with a roll of her eyes. Her father only cared if Families had high rankings in society if they didn't they weren't worth his time at least that's what it appeared like to Lila.

Luca Rossi glanced at his daughter "What was that, my dear?"

"Nothing," Lila said quickly stuffing more cereal in her mouth so she wouldn't have to answer more questions.

"Well I must be going, work to do, people to see," Luca said standing up and leaving the room.

Lila quickly finished her breakfast alone before going up to her room. She decided to take her camera. She had got it for her tenth birthday as she likes to take photos of all the countries she visited, many of them were very scenic. Paris was no different.

Lila looked at the wall above her desk where she had her favourite photos pinned up on board attached to the wall. The other photos were placed carefully in a photo album that was in her desk drawer beside her black notebook.

She grabbed her red shoulder bag putting her camera, phone and purse in it. She was about to leave when her eyes fell on the foxtail necklace she had left hanging on a jewellery stand on her desk. A light breeze blew in through her opened bedroom window making the necklace sway a little.

She didn't know why but it felt like it was telling her to put it on. Lila sighed that was silly how would and why would it tell her to put it on? It was a necklace it didn't have life. She hadn't worn it since her time as Volpina still she found herself reaching for it and picking it up. She had paid for it she may as well make use of it.

Then she put the necklace around her neck and secured the clasp. Lila didn't know how or why but just putting the necklace on made her feel more confident, stronger.

Lila smiled before walking out of the room. She couldn't be late to meet Nathanael.

* * *

"Hey, Nathanael" Lila said as she ran up to him.

Nathanael smiled "Hey Lila"

She stopped when she reached him "so where we going first?" she asked.

"Well it doesn't matter to me anywhere you wanted to go?" Nathanael asked looking at her with wide blue eyes.

"Well I actually really wanted to visit the Louvre," Lila said with a shy blush.

Nathanael looked up in shock "Really?!"

Lila nodded "Yeah why do you look so shocked?"

"Sorry. It's just I didn't think that's a place you'd enjoy going" Nathanael said with a sheepish smile.

"Well it is…and it doesn't hurt that I have an expert in Art coming with me" Lila smirked.

"Oh I get it now, well sorry to ruin your dreams but I'm not an art expert" Nathanael smirked.

Lila pretended to wipe away fake tears "How could you!? You're so mean taking my dreams away from me in my youth!"

Nathanael started to laugh "You're such a drama queen!"

Lila just laughed along with him.

"Well then come on," Nathanael said as he walked off with Lila following.

Lila entered the Louvre with Nathanael and stared around in awe.

"It's amazing" she whispered.

Nathanael looked her with a raised eyebrow "Why are you whispering?"

Lila looked at Nathanael, her green eyes conveying confusion "Don't we have to whisper? Like in a library?"

Nathanael started to grin and though he tried not to he started to laugh as he shook his head.

"Stop laughing at me!" Lila pouted.

"Sorry, but no you don't have to whisper," Nathanael said.

"Well, I'm not from here…stop judging me" Lila said as she walked on.

Nathanael rolled his eyes but followed.

"Come on, Lila," Nathanael said as he guided through the crowds of people mostly tourists admiring the Masterpieces hung on the wall.

"Where are we going?" Lila asked as she let Nathanael drag her through crowds.

Nathanael looked over his shoulder at her with a grin "My favourite place in the Louvre of course"

Lila smiled "Well then I expect to be amazed"

Nathanael laughed.

Nathanael had taken Lila to the Sully wing of the Louvre, it mostly contained a large collection of French paintings, drawings and prints although Nathanael had seen them countless times he still retained that spark of awe in his eyes as he looked at them all in wonder and admiration.

Lila looked at the artwork and even though they were all quite amazing she would soon grow bored, she found herself glancing at Nathanael and a small smile made its way to her face.

He looked so adorable. She thought as she watched the way his eyes lit up as he stared at the different pieces of artwork.

Nathanael sensed her staring and looked at her. Lila blushed at being caught staring at him.

"Everything okay?" Nathanael asked in concern.

Lila nodded "Yeah I'm fine"

He smiled "So what you think of the art so far?"

Lila looked at him and smiled "It's stunning I could never make anything as good as what's in here unlike you. Your arts amazing maybe your art will be praised soon"

Nathanael chuckled and shook his head "No way! My art is mediocre compared to all this stuff"

Lila glared annoyed to see Nathanael didn't have much confidence in himself.

"Don't say that! Your art is very impressive and is just as good if not better than the stuff in here"

"I think you may be exaggerating but I know how stubborn you are so we'll just agree to disagree" Nathanael smirked.

"Fine but I get to say I told you so when your art is praised by everyone," the Italian girl said with a smile.

Nathanael started walking with Lila beside him.

"Well if that ever does happen I think we'll be long dead," he said, blankly.

"If we're ghosts together I'll still say it" Lila smirked.

Nathanael laughed "Okay whatever keeps you happy"

Lila grinned.

They were passing by statues now as they made their way through the Louvre. They passed by one that caught Lila's interest. Her dark green eyes scanning and admiring the statue. It was titled Psyche revived by Cupid's kiss.

The white marble stone showed the cold and harsh lifelessness that is reality but the figures themselves with their finely sculpted detail suggested nothing of the sort, being almost lifelike in nature. Cupid's glorious wings, his quiver full of arrows, the way Cupid holds Psyche delicately, the curve of Psyche's hips as she turns to embrace cupid and the carefully structured detail, like Psyche's belly button and graceful toes added a sense of moment and life to the scene along with a sense of authenticity. It was beautiful.

Lila stopped walking and couldn't help but stare; she also couldn't help but feel envious of the two sculptures that were frozen in time. She wanted to be looked at with tender affection, she wanted to be held gently in loving arms, she wanted to be praised as beautiful and intelligent, and she wanted to be loved. Her fists tighten unconsciously.

She felt silly for being jealous of statues but she supposed it wasn't the statues she was really jealous of. It was Ladybug. Lila still disliked the spotted heroine who all of Paris loved and adored. Lila wanted to know what it felt like to have all the praise at the moment she only knew what it was like to be hated by everyone.

"Lila, you okay?" Nathanael's concerned voice broke her trance.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine just in awe of this sculpture."

Nathanael's lips made a thin line and he looked at her with disbelief but decided not to push the matter any further.

"Yeah, it's nice, very romantic." He said.

"Come on, let's go," Lila said solemnly. Nathanael followed close behind.

It was around five o clock now. Both Lila and Nathanael were exiting the Louvre. They were walking quietly beside each other hand in hand. Nathanael wasn't sure what got Lila feeling so down he didn't want to worsen the situation by asking as he was sure Lila didn't want to talk about it. He decided to just stay silent and hold her hand comfortingly as they walked around the mazes of paintings. The moment his hand found hers her shoulders loosened and her intense gaze softened. That was a good sign. As they progressed a comfortable silence came over them. It was soothing. This was the calm before the storm.

"So where are we going next?" Nathanael asked.

Before Lila even had the chance to speak a civilian let out a terrified scream.

Both Lila and Nathanael turned their heads in the direction of the scream.

"Oh my god! What's that!?" A civilian cried out in terror.

Overhead the sky turned a menacing grey blocking the sun rays from shining down on them. Riding on a large black cloud was a boy clothed in a black cape that swirled at the end like it was made of shadows….It was an Akuma!

Hysteria. Panic. Fear…An Akuma attack…In the madness of scurrying people who were trying to flee. Nathanael gasped as he tried to pull Lila through the crowds to safety. Besides the Akuma at the school and Lila herself being an Akuma on her first day in Paris no less she had never actually been caught in the full chaos of an Akuma attack yet.

The akumatised boy's voice rang out "Soon all the world will be cast in shadow!"

"C'mon Lila, we need to get out of here!" Nathanael said.

Lila nodded, fear obvious in her eyes.

Chat Noir appeared just in time jumping down from the roof of a building.

"Now I'm all for the colour black but did you never hear the saying too much of a good thing?" the cat-themed superhero smirked at the akumatised boy.

A purple butterfly silhouette appeared on the boy's face and he glared at Chat Noir as he listened to what Hawkmoth was saying.

"You will give me you're Miraculous and then Phantom shall rule over this world" the Akuma, Phantom exclaimed pointing a black staff which was shaped like a skull at the top at Chat Noir.

"I never really understood why Akumas always talked in third person"

Chat Noir looked towards the voice and saw Ladybug standing beside him.

"My lady I never heard you drop in," Chat said.

Ladybug smirked, "well we can't all be loud and brash now can we?"

"Some people like to make an entrance" Chat retorted back.

Then Phantom blasted a black beam of magic at them from his staff

A shadow monster appeared. Glaring with angry red eyes at the two superheroes.

"Well, what do you suppose we do now my lady?" Chat Noir asked taking a cautious step away from the towering monster.

Ladybug gulped and looked around for a way to get past the monster.

As this was happening Nathanael was pulling Lila away from the scene of the Akuma.

Lila let Nathanael pull her through the crowds of panicked people and glanced behind for a second to see the familiar spotted hero that she so disliked.

Panic settled in her stomach and her grip on Nathanael's hand tightened. He looked behind at her with concerned blue eyes.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Uh yeah just worried about the Akuma" Lila lied faking a smile.

Nathanael slowed down and stopped running causing Lila to stop as well. He looked at her with those wide teal eyes that made Lila feel like he could see into her thoughts. Her Heartbeat quickened worried that he had caught onto her lie.

But then he gave her a small smile. "You shouldn't worry so much we've got Ladybug and Chat Noir so everything will be okay"

' _I wouldn't trust Ladybug with my life we all know she's not my number one fan'_ Lila thought but instead of saying this aloud she just smiled and nodded not wanting to bother Nathanael with her problems.

"We can go to my house is close we can wait there till the Akuma is defeated," Nathanael said, walking off with Lila following.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were currently struggling to defeat Phantom every time they got close to him. He summoned another shadow monster.

"Well it's been fun playing games with you two but Phantom must return to taking over Paris," he said, stepping on a dark cloud which floated into the sky.

"Finish them off for me won't you" He addressed the monster which let out a low growl.

"Chat Noir he's getting away!" Ladybug cried watching Phantom getaway not noticing the monster reaching out to hit her with a clawed hand.

"Ladybug watch out!" Chat Noir cried rushing to her side. He pushed her out of the way and the monster hit him instead slamming against a bricked wall.

"Chat!" Ladybug exclaimed, her eyes widening in fear.

Chat slumped to the ground with a wince of pain. Seeing Ladybug watch him with worry he managed to fake a smile.

"Meouch," He said with a grin as he stood up and rubbed the back of his head.

Ladybug rolled her eyes and decided he was fine if he was saying puns.

"If you got time to say puns you've got time to defeat this monster" Ladybug said while attaching her yoyo to a nearby roof hook so she could swing over the monster and onto a roof.

Chat took out his baton and extended it so he could join his lady on the roof.

"My lady do you not find my puns a-meow-sing?" Chat said with a cheeky grin and a wink.

Ladybug looked at him and tried to glare but wasn't able to keep the smile off her lips.

"Chat we need to focus," Ladybug said assessing the situation.

Chat laughed "Okay no more puns…for now"

Phantom stood on his black cloud looking down at Paris. He felt a strange feeling like he was missing something from his grand plan but he had no idea what.

Then he saw two people walking quickly away from the chaos. One was a pale male with red hair and the other was…a practical goddess!

It was then in Phantoms mind he knew what his grand plan was missing. A bride! And that girl was going to be his!

With his new plan in mind, he pointed his black staff down at his cloud using his new powers to turn it into a gryphon-like monster.

It stretched its clawed feet out and flapped its shadowy wings and fixed its black eyes on its 'prey'.

Phantom pointed his staff in Lila's direction "I want that girl" he declared and suddenly the gryphon was heading in Lila' direction

He swooped down on the black gryphon. It reached out its hooked claws ready to grab her when the red-haired male managed to ruin his plans by grabbing _His_ brides waist and pulling her out of the way.

Phantom let out a low growl annoyed he was unsuccessful in capturing his bride.

"Woah!" Lila said stumbling into Nathanael's chest when he pulled her out of the way of Phantoms gryphons grasp.

"S-sorry but it looks like you've got a fan" Nathanael chuckled anxiously.

Lila scanned the sky and saw Phantom readying his gryphon to snatch her again.

Lila felt Nathanael tug her hand. "C'mon we've got to get out of here," he said starting to run with Lila away from the Akuma.

"Where are you going, my bride?" Phantom shouted after them.

"Bride?" Lila repeated aloud confused.

The gryphon tried to grab Lila again but Nathanael quickly pulled her down a narrow side alley that the gryphon couldn't get down.

Phantom shouted a few angry curse words after them.

* * *

Nathanael and Lila were running as fast they could away from the slightly deranged Akuma that was after them or more specifically Lila.

'He just had to choose me as a bride' Lila thought in annoyance as she turned a corner and ran down an alleyway pulling Nathanael with her.

We'll be caught if we try to run to safety! We just have to hide until the problem is resolved." Lila said as she dragged Nathanael through the winding maze of alleys and streets the city provided.

She was trying to stay as close to buildings as she could to avoid the scanning gaze of Phantom who was flying overhead on some black monster creature with soulless black eyes, it and the Phantom were scanning the ground for any traces of Lila.

"Where are you my sweetheart" She felt like gagging when she heard that.

"Get down." Nathanael quietly hissed out as he practically tackled her down to the ground as they hid behind a bench away from Phantom's gaze.

"Damn! I thought I saw her around here!" Phantom said thoroughly disappointed.

Nathanael waited a little while before he spoke, pressing himself closer to Lila to avoid detection. Finally, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Good I think he's gone…you okay Lila?" He asked in concern.

Lila merely gazed up at him with bright eyes and a pink blush. Her heartbeat had speed up when he pressed himself closer to her. He was right on top of her and his face was very close to her own face. She never realized how beautiful he was. His smooth pale skin, bright scarlet hair, and a set of gorgeous blue eyes, Lila finally noticed how so very blue they were it was almost like they had their own ocean trapped inside. She quickly turned her head to avoid her blush being obviously seen.

"You're um kinda crushing me." She lied too prideful and embarrassed to admit that he was just too close for comfort.

"S-sorry," Nathanael said with a stutter as he quickly got off her, his face heating up when he realised just how close he had been to Lila.

"We should lay low for a little bit before making a run for it," Lila said, sitting up.

Nathanael nodded in agreement his cheeks still tinted pink from his blush before.

"It's a pity the Phantom wants you as his bride," Nathanael said with an annoyed look on his face.

Lila sighed "you're telling me" Lila gave Nathanael a rueful smile "sorry you got dragged into this"

Nathanael looked back with a gentle smile "It's okay… is every day going to be a crazy adventure with you?"

Lila started to laugh and then covered her mouth in shock and fear. Did Phantom hear them? They froze and after a few seconds of silence breathed a sigh of relief.

When suddenly the tree behind them was pushed down with a loud and terrifying thud and the only thought that went through both their minds was: 'we're dead'.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived on the scene to see Lila being pulled away from Nathanael.

"Let go of my bride" the phantom growled, his red eyes flashed with anger.

"For the last time I'm not you're bride!" Lila said trying to free her herself from phantoms steel-like grasp.

"Looks like a love triangle," Chat Noir said with a chuckle.

Ladybug rolled her eyes "I never was a fan of love triangles"

"Come on kitty don't just stand there," Ladybug said when Phantom's Monster slashed its grey claws on Nathanael's arm causing the redhead to let go of his grasp on Lila with a cry of pain.

"Hey, Phantom!" Chat shouted to catch the villain's attention. Phantom stopped and looked down at the superheroes with a sneer.

"I thought I had given you a monster to play with!"

"Sorry but no monster can keep up with the great Chat Noir," Chat Noir said jokingly but his fierce glare showed he wasn't in the mood to mess around.

As Phantom was concentrated on Paris's superheroes this made him loosen his grip on Lila. Who was already mad at phantom for hurting Nathanael.

She managed to elbow him hard right in the gut. This startled him and he loosened his grip completely on the Italian girl.

Lila quickly rushed to Nathanael's side to check if he was okay.

"Nathy!" she cried.

Nathanael looked up at Lila as he clutched his arm which was bleeding greatly were it had got slashed by the monster.

Lila gasped. "I'm so sorry Nathanael"

Nathanael shook his head and managed to smile at her "It's not your fault"

While this was happening Ladybug decided to act. "Lucky Charm!" she shouted throwing her yoyo in the air.

A torch fell from the sky and landed in ladybugs hands.

"A torch?" Ladybug wondered out loud while looking around for a way to use the torch to defeat Phantom.

"You're right it isn't my fault," Lila said standing up and fixing Phantom with an angry glare.

"Lila," Nathanael said trying to grab her hand with his uninjured arm knowing where this was going to lead to.

Lila took a step towards Phantom "How dare you!" she shouted.

Phantom looked at her confused.

"You think it's alright to hurt Nathanael? Cause it isn't!" she shouted her emerald eyes flashing with anger.

"Oh, would you shut up! You know you're really pretty until you start speaking" Phantom said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh shit" Nathanael whispered with a wince as he knew that there was no chance Phantom was getting out alive now.

Chat and Ladybug were also watching with mouths agape waiting to see what Lila would do are say next.

Lila let out an angry laugh "Oh you are so going to wish you never said that"

Phantom just looked at with a bored expression not too worried "And what are you going to do? You're just a girl"

That did it Lila's anger was at boiling point.

She managed to rush and grab his staff from his grasp causing Phantom to gasp. She fixed him with a glare before swinging the staff and hitting him off his gryphon. He landed on the ground with a thud and his gryphon started to fade away with not being in contact with the Akuma.

Phantom opened his mouth to complain but Lila spoke over him "Shut up! Ignorant jerks don't deserve to speak" she spoke fiercely. Then kicked him in the gut.

He gasped in pain and Lila reached down ripping a silver brooch from his top.

"Here," she said throwing it over to Ladybug.

Ladybug managed to catch it despite being a bit shocked from what she just witnessed and dropped it on the ground before crushing it with her foot. A black butterfly fluttered out of it.

Ladybug used her yoyo to catch it and purify the evil forces from the insect. "Bye bye little butterfly," she said as the white butterfly fluttered gracefully off.

Then she threw the torch in the air and shouted the magical words a warm light enveloped Paris and fixed everything.

Lila rushed back to Nathanael and was relieved to see the large gash on his arm had disappeared.

Chat Noir went over to the Akuma victim to see if he was alright.

"Nathanael!" Lila said as wrapped him in a hug. Nathanael felt a blush appear on his face.

She let him go and fixed him with a concerned gaze "You're okay now right?"

Nathanael nodded "Yes, I'm fine"

"Do you not think you went a little overboard?" Nathanael asked looking over as Chat helped the black haired boy up.

Lila glanced back at the boy before looking at Nathanael with a sheepish smile "I couldn't help it…my anger just blew up and well I was really annoyed he hurt you…I couldn't live with myself if I just stood by while somebody hurt you"

Nathanael felt a light blush cover his cheeks as he looked at Lila in shock "You care that much?"

Lila blushed and glanced at the pavement "Of course, you're my best friend right…why should I not care?"

Before Nathanael could say anymore Ladybug walked up to the duo. Lila let out a light gasp and stood closer to Nathanael and kept her eyes firmly glued to the ground.

"Um, Lila I just wanted to say…about that time when I…you know" Ladybug let out a sigh "I just wanted to say sorry again I should never have been so harsh after all no one's perfect" she let out an anxious laugh.

Lila looked at Ladybug before looking away not saying a thing she grabbed Nathanael's hand and pulled him away "Let's go now" she said.

Ladybug stared after them shocked and upset at her offer of peace had been rejected yet again. Chat Noir came up and stood beside her putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure everything will work out okay soon," he said.

Ladybug wasn't quite sure that was ever going to be true.

Nathanael walked away with her very confused about what was going on. "Um…Lila, what was going on back there?"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay," she said, letting go of his hand and refusing to look at the boy.

Nathanael was about to protest when he saw the tightness in her eyes they looked like were about to crack with tears.

He knew then not to say anything he didn't want to make it worse for her. He would wait until she was ready to open up and tell him herself.

"So where exactly are we going?" Nathanael asked.

Lila stopped walking causing Nathanael to nearly walking into her.

"I actually don't know," Lila said looking at the ground sadly.

Nathanael reached and gently took her hand "It'll be okay"

Lila finally looked at Nathanael and he offered a gentle smile "We can just go to my house…if you want to of course"

Lila finally smiled "I would like that…I don't really feel like going anywhere public right now"

"Great let's go," Nathanael said.

They started to walk off hand in hand.


	7. Mother knows best

Lila walked behind Nathanael up the stairs to his apartment. They reached the door and Nathanael reached to open it when he stopped.

Lila noticed this and looked at him in concern "Everything okay, Nathy?"

Nathanael looked at her and sighed. "Well, the thing is…"

Lila raised an eyebrow in confusion "The thing is what?" she asked.

"It's just my mum is a little…well…full on" Nathanael said rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

Lila let out a giggle "It'll be fine Nathy…jeez you're a real worrier y'know that"

Nathanael rolled his eyes but finally opened the door and walked in with Lila following.

His mother came down the stairs just as they walked in.

"Nathanael you're home oh! And you a brought a girl with you!" she said excitable.

Nathanael groaned internally _'She just has to be embarrassing…Lila's never going to want to my friend after this!"_

"Well Come on Nathanael introduce your girlfriend have I taught you no manners?" His mother smirked.

Lila and Nathanael both went red in the face.

"Um…she's N-not my G-girlfriend…we're just f-friends" Nathanael stuttered out.

His mum frowned "well that's a pity" she turned her attention to Lila with a kind smile she asked, "may I ask your name?"

"Oh, I'm Lila…Lila Rossi" Lila finally spoke up through a blush was still obvious on her face.

Miss Kurtzberg gasped "You're the girl Nathanael always talks about!"

"Mum!" Nathanael hissed, his cheeks ablaze.

Lila glanced at Nathanael surprised as well as happy to hear he talked about her.

His mother laughed at how embarrassed her son was getting.

"Well, Lila it is a pleasure to meet you," Nathanael's mum said with a bright smile.

"Uh thank you Miss Kurtzberg," Lila said ducking her head shyly.

"Miss Kurtzberg…No need to be so formal you can just call me Adina"

"Oh okay…Adina" Lila said awkwardly glancing at Nathanael.

"Mum you're making Lila feel awkward" Nathanael glared.

"Nonsense" His mum shook her head. "Now Lila are you hungry?"

"Oh no I'm okay," Lila said.

"No need to be shy dear," Adina said patting Lila's shoulder. "Nathanael don't just stand there go get her something to eat" his mother ordered him.

Nathanael gave her a wary look not trusting to leave Lila alone with his mother but finally with a sigh he walked off to the kitchen.

Adina watched her son walk off and when he was finally out of earshot. She turned to Lila mischievous smile "Now we can finally talk…come on!" she led Lila into the living room.

When they came into the living room Miss Kurtzberg looked around with a thoughtful expression "Now where did I leave that photobook" she muttered.

"Photobook?" Lila repeated with a raise of her eyebrow.

Miss Kurtzberg turned and gave a bright smile "Oh yes you're going to love it"

Lila smiled back and gently sat down on the sofa.

"Aha! There it is" Miss Kurtzberg said taking a large book of the bookcase.

As Nathanael made his way back to Lila and his mum he heard laughter that sounded very like Lila. Panic settled in him. He rushed into the room and his fears were confirmed.

His mother was showing Lila a photo album full of pictures of him when he was little.

Lila glanced up and saw Nathanael at the doorway and smirked "Hello Nathanael your mother was just showing me how cute you were"

Nathanael felt his face heat up.

"He was cute wasn't he?!" His mother giggled.

Lila nodded also giggling "I like this photo" she held up the photo album to a picture of a baby Nathanael dressed in a fox suit.

"You were such a cutie" Lila giggled.

' _She is never going to let me live this down'_ Nathanael thought as his face increased in heat.

"What's wrong Nathanael? You look very red" Lila asked with a smirk. His mother just laughed

Nathanael glared at the two of them while he wished for a hole to open up in the ground so he could escape this situation.

"Mum!" Nathanael hissed, his eyes narrowed in fiery anger.

"What? I'm only showing your future wife your baby photos" His mother said with a shrug of her shoulders.

' _Future Wife!'_ Lila thought her cheeks heating up as they turned red.

"Mum! Would you just leave…please" Nathanael whined.

His Mother laughed standing up "Okay I'm leaving I can show Lila the rest some other day" she winked at the Italian girl before walked to the door. She paused glancing over her shoulder "Don't do anything I wouldn't" she giggled before finally leaving.

Nathanael slammed the door shut behind. He rested his head on the door for a second and sighed.

"You ok, Nathy?" Lila asked.

Nathanael turned around "Yeah" then he turned and glanced at the door "Sorry about her," he said.

"It's okay she's very nice…though very different from my own mum" Lila said.

Nathanael nodded and sat down beside the Italian girl.

"So…how do you like Paris so far?" he asked.

Lila's eyes widened at the question "Oh well it's nice of course though I do miss Italy a lot I'm starting to get used to life here"

Nathanael nodded with a happy smile "What was Italy like?" he asked his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Italy…well, I how do I explain it…I lived in Genoa though I did sometimes have to switch around cities with my father's work but Genoa is where most of my family lived. I loved living with them all my Nonna and all my cousins it was the best!" Lila continued talking a genuine and happy smile on her face.

Nathanael watched with a smile on his face he felt his heart warm at seeing her genuinely happy for once.

"And In the summer after school, me and my cousins used to go the beach and sunbathe or have picnics along the shore," Lila told him. "And when it's really hot in the summer, you can bring blankets up to the roofs and just fall asleep there. And then on the weekends, I would just pack some sunscreen, run down to the beach and just go swimming or write while resting in the sun" Lila smiled "There was always this old man who sold gelatos near the beach, and he'd always give them to me for free because he saw me every day."

Nathanael laughed "Sounds amazing…I don't think you'd be able to do anything like that in Paris"

Lia shook her head "No but I'm sure Paris has its own charms, right?" she asked.

"Uh I suppose," Nathanael said.

"You say that as if you've never been around Paris much" Lila giggled.

"Well, I suppose I haven't…I don't really go out much and well I never really get invited out much either" Nathanael said, glancing away in embarrassment.

"Oh," Lila muttered "Well good thing you have me now! We can have loads of adventures together" she winked with a smirk.

Nathanael laughed "yeah"

"Hey, Lila…um" Nathanael faltered off unsure whether to ask.

"What's wrong?" Lila asked.

"I was just wondering…what was going on between you and ladybug?" He asked.

He saw Lila stiffen and a frown crossed her face.

"S-sorry I didn't mean to a-annoy you…just f-forget about it" Nathanael stuttered.

Lila took a breath "No you're my best friend it's only right for to know" then she fixed Nathanael with a hard stare "But you have to promise not to hate me"

Nathanael nodded "Of course I could never hate you"

Lila felt her heart skip a beat as her cheeks coloured red at Nathanael's words. Nathanael seemed unaware of what he had just said as he looked at Lila with concern.

"Well you know on my first day in Paris I got akumatised," Lila said

"Yeah, Volpina…but they just said on the ladyblog how you…" Nathanael faltered off with an apologetic smile.

"Yes, they said that I lied….But they didn't tell the full truth themselves!" Lila said anger rising in her voice.

Nathanael placed a reassuring hand on top of hers. "You can tell me the truth"

Lila looked at him and some of the anger left her eyes. A soft smile appeared on her lips.

"So I lied about knowing Ladybug really well and…some other things but only because I was really nervous in making friends I had been to loads of schools before and I never really fit in well everyone was already in friendship groups and they only paid attention to me when I told some amazing lie…it's wrong I know" Lila sighed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself I know it's hard to fit in" Nathanael said, "Then is that why Ladybug was annoyed?"

Lila nodded.

"And um what exactly happened between Ladybug and you," Nathanael asked.

"Oh I went to the park with Adrien" Nathanael felt a tightness set in his chest at that but he had no idea why.

"Then while we were chatting Ladybug just dropped in and started shouting calling me a super liar" Tears started to appear in Lila's eyes "I didn't lie to hurt anyone but she acted like I was some villain she even went telling all the reporters that I was some Lying monster and then she expects me to believe she is actually sorry for what she has done!"

Nathanael frowned hating seeing Lila upset.

"Lying probably wasn't the nicest thing to do but I understand why you did it…what Ladybug did was awful I agree but she actually seemed genuinely sorry back there" Nathanael said.

"Are you taking her side?" Lila asked, looking at Nathanael angrily.

"No…I think you both acted impulsively…I'm taking no one's side"

Lila sniffed and blinked back tears "Do you hate me?"

"No don't worry I don't hate you…I promised you remember" Nathanael smiled.

Lila nodded and managed to give a small smile "I'm Glad I don't think I could live if you hated me"

Nathanael blushed but rolled his eyes "You're such a drama queen"

"I am not!" Lila pouted.

Nathanael started to laugh. Lila glared at him but it appeared his laughter was infectious as soon she had started laughing too.

When they finally stopped laughing. Nathanael spoke "Lila, thank you"

"For what?" she asked.

"For being honest with me…I know it was hard for you and I'm grateful that you felt you could tell me the truth" Nathanael said

Lila smiled "Well you're my Best friend I'm not going to lie to you"

"You mean that," Nathanael asked. He was looking at her with wide blue eyes, Lila felt a small blush heat up on her cheeks

"Yes I promise I'll always tell you the truth no lies," Lila said.

Nathanael smiled "Okay I believe you"

Then they heard Nathanael's mother call his name.

"Oh, I better go" Nathanael said standing up and walking out of the room.

He found his mum in the kitchen "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I want you to ask Lila if she wants to stay for dinner," His mother said, her teal eyes shined happily "I'm glad you found such a nice friend…that's if she is just a friend"

"Yes, she is a friend!" Nathanael huffed, a deep red blush appearing on his face.

His mum smirked "are you sure? Your face is very red"

"Mum, just let it go!" Nathanael hissed.

"Okay, but you got to admit she's very pretty and seems so nice," Adina Kurtzberg said.

Before Nathanael could complain again Lila walked in.

"Sorry but I need to go now," Lila said glancing at Nathanael with an apologetic smile.

"Really so soon?" Nathanael asked, sadness sounding in his voice.

"Do you not want to stay for dinner?" Miss Kurtzberg asked.

Lila looked shocked to be asked "um" then she shook her head "Thank you for the offer Miss Kurtzberg but I really got to go…maybe some other time"

"Oh alright then, bye Lila it was really nice meeting you," Miss Kurtzberg said with a kind smile.

"It was lovely meeting you too" Lila smiled, then she fixed the bag strap on her shoulder and turned to leave.

"Wait, Lila!" Nathanael said, walking up to stand with her. "I'll walk you to the door"

Lila smiled "Well I don't think anything horrible will happen me on my way to the door but okay" she started to walk to the door.

"You could have just said okay you know," Nathanael said as he followed her.

"Yes, but where's the fun in that?" Lila smirked. Then they reached the door. Lila opened it.

"Bye, Lila," Nathanael said.

"Bye, Nathanael" Lila said before walking out and shutting the door.

"Nathanael" His mother called coming out of the kitchen. He turned to look at his mother.

"What?" he asked looking at her suspiciously already suspecting she was going to say something embarrassing.

"You better marry that girl as I will accept nobody else"

Nathanael sighed "I'm fifteen mum! I'm not going to be thinking about marriage at my age!"

"So you _do_ like Lila" his mum smirked.

"I _never_ said that!" Nathanael exclaimed, his face turning red.

"You never denied it!" his mother retorted.

" _MUM!"_ Nathanael shouted _._

Lila walked home with a happy smile. It had felt nice to be honest with Nathanael. She never wanted to lie to Nathanael ever. It would only hurt him and she never wanted to hurt him he was too sweet and kind to be hurt.

She walked down the street underneath the shade of the trees that swayed in the late breeze.

Lila remembered what Nathanael had said _"I could never hate you"_ she felt her face heat up as her heartbeat quickened. She shook her head quickly she was being silly she didn't like Nathanael like that he was just a good friend that was all.

She decided to forget about it as she had more to worry about now. She took her phone out of her bag and opened it to the text from her father.

She read it over again _come home now. We need to discuss something._ She gulped wondering what she had done wrong now. Not that she was surprised he was annoyed she had learnt from an early age that nothing she did was good enough for her father.

She put her phone back in her bag and continued on her walk home.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and yes Nath's mum is a shipper! Now for some kinda bad news: it may take a really long time for the next chapter to come out. My exams are starting very soon and I need to spend more time revising if I want to get good grades and these are the final exams, so yeah I'll have to put this story on hiatus for awhile which I hate to do especially seeing as I have so many ideas for this and other stories I was working and that's all I really have to say.**


	8. Double Date?

Nathanael walked into the class on early on a Monday morning and was surprised to see Lila already in the class. Her head planted down on the table.

He walked up to the desk and smirked "I thought I was the sleepyhead?" he sat down as Lila lifted her head a bit she looked at him before letting out a strangely fox-like whine and flopping her head down again.

Nathanael chuckled. "What's up with you?" he asked.

Lila made no reply or sign of movement.

Nathanael stared at Lila in concern. One of his eyebrows raised in question

"Lila...you still alive?" he gently poked her arm.

Lila finally sat up and brushed some strands of hair out of her face. She sighed loudly. "Nathanael why are parents awful?" she asked, looking ahead instead of directly at him.

Nathanael was confused "um I don't know?" he said.

"Well then it shall forever remain a mystery," Lila said sourly.

"Did something happen? Did your parent's do something to annoy you?" Nathanael asked.

"You could say that" Lila answered.

"You want to tell me?" Nathanael ask.

Before Lila answered the classroom door opened and Adrien walked in talking to Marinette, well Adrien was talking while Marinette was blushing and grinning weirdly. Alya and Nino followed behind with smirks on their faces as they watched their friends.

Lila froze with a glare at the blonde model. She let out an aggravated sigh and collapsed her head back on the table.

"Pretend I don't exist" she mumbled.

"Um…okay," Nathanael said unsurely.

* * *

The rest of the day Lila was quiet and somewhat moody. It worried Nathanael to see her keeping stuff to herself especially if it made her so upset. Nathanael was never the kind to be blunt especially with an elephant in the room. However, He felt close enough to Lila that he decides for once in his life it was time to be.

When it came to break. Lila and Nathanael were walking down to the park close to the school.

"Hey Lila," Nathanael said as they were walking down the street.

"Yeah" Lila said, glancing at Nathanael.

"I was wondering why you were so…not yourself lately" He asked.

Lila sighed and looked up at the trees before finally looking back. "It's my father he keeps going on about me and Adrien"

"You and Adrien!" Nathanael exclaimed, the same tightness in his chest that he felt on Saturday when she had mentioned Adrien.

Lila gave him a look of concern but decided to ignore his strange behaviour "Yeah anyway apparently he met Gabriel Agreste and was all like saying about Adrien being close to me and Gabriel was like I have no clue what you're talking about so my dad was annoyed and he called me home which is why I left suddenly on Saturday" Lila took a breath.

"And um what happened then?" Nathanael asked.

"Oh, he was all like _you better restore the Rossi Reputation or else!_ "Lila said putting on an impression of her father.

Nathanael started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Lila questioned, glaring and giving him a gentle shove.

Nathanael continued to laugh tears appearing in the corner of his eyes "s-sorry" he stuttered through laughter.

"It's just _Rossi Reputation?"_ he laughed" and your impression of your father was just too funny"

"Yes my father is very…weird and I'll have you know my acting skills are very good" Lila pouted.

"I never said they were bad," Nathanael said.

"Good cause I'm an amazing actress," Lila said with a smirk.

They came into the park and saw Rose and Juleka sitting on a bench. Rose spotted them and waved them over.

"So what are you going to do about your dad?" Nathanael asked.

Lila shrugged "No idea probably ignore it hopefully he'll forget all about this…that's if we don't move again"

"Move?" Nathanael asked, his voice rising at the end. Sadness and worry was obvious on his face.

Lila noticed this as she glanced at him "Uh yeah but that's not as likely as it used to be. My dad said we were here for a long time so don't worry you're not getting rid of me that easily"

Nathanael smiled "That's good"

They finally reached Rose and Juleka who were whispering about something. Lila only heard Juleka hiss _"Rose for the last time No matchmaking!"_ Then they saw Lila and Nathanael and went quiet and smiled.

Lila eyed them suspiciously. She knew what it looked like when someone was up to no good, mostly because she was usually the person who up to no good but this time it looked like Rose was the one scheming. Lila wondered what it was as she sat down beside Juleka on the bench. Rose and Nathanael had sat on the grass.

Before she could get it out of Rose though Alya and Mari came past with Marinette loudly wailing. "But Alya I'll mess up and embarrass myself like I always do! I can't do this without you"

"Sorry, Mari but I promised my mum I'd look after my sisters tonight" Alya shrugged apologetically.

"Alya!" Marinette whined, putting her head on Alya's chest.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, her periwinkle eyes brimming with concern.

Marinette lifted her head and looked at the group who was watching her with wide curious eyes.

Alya smirked, "Someone managed to get a date to the movies with Adrien!"

"I-It's not a d-date!" Marinette stuttered turning red in the face. Alya and everyone else looked at her with disbelief.

She giggled anxiously. Then she turned to Alya again gripping her by the arms tightly "Please Alya I _Need_ your help he thinks you and Nino are coming as well"

Alya eyes darted to the group for help when she had her idea. She grinned "Hey why don't you go with her Lila?"

Marinette freezes "W-what no I wouldn't want to force Lila she's probably busy"

Lila gasped and looked at the ground and started playing with a strand of her hair "um well you see the thing is…" she trailed off unsure how to get out of going. Then an idea came to mind a smirk appearing on her face _'Wait a minute If I go then I can pretend to my dad that I am actually trying to get close to Adrien…though I'm not…still, it might work…but I can't go alone it be awkward'_ then she glanced at Nathanael and her plan miraculously came into place.

"No, it's no Problem Marinette. I'd love to go but do you mind if I bring Nathanael?" she asked putting on her sweetest smile.

"Wait what?!" Nathanael hissed, his face turning pale and his eyes widening.

"Sure he can come too if he wants…I suppose" she mumbled.

"Great!" Lila said. She looked at Nathanael with an excited smile.

* * *

When they were walking back to the school, Rose and Juleka were walking ahead of them

"Nathanael you're coming to the movies with me right?" she asked.

He looked down at his hands which he was wringing "Well I don't know..."

"Nathanael please it'll be no fun without you!" Lila said, pulling a sad puppy face.

"Lila that won't work" Nathanael chuckled.

"Nathy" she complained.

He sighed "okay I'll come"

"Yay!" Lila said hugging him causing him to go red in the face.

Rose glanced over her shoulder and saw Lila hugging Nathanael while the latter turned as red as his hair colour. She grinned and tugged Juleka's arm. "See they are meant to be!" she said

Juleka looked back at the duo and smiled "Rose they may be cute but we can't interfere…what happens if you ruin their friendship"

A look of doubt crossed over Rose's face as she pouted "well Lila's such a good friend to Nathan I'd hate for him to lose that friendship"

"Exactly" Juleka nodded.

"But I can feel it in my heart that they are destined soulmates!" Rose said clasping her hands together and looking at Juleka with wide eyes.

Juleka smiled and shook her head "Rose I said _No Matchmaking_!"

"You're no fun Jule" Rose pouted, her hands hanging limply by her side while she also lowered her head.

Juleka hated seeing her precious girlfriend sad not to mention being a big softie at heart she sighed giving in "Fine I have a deal"

Rose quickly looked up with sparkling excited eyes "I can be a Matchmaker?" she asked.

"Yes but only if Nathanael or Lila specifically tell you that they like the other" Juleka said with a serious look at Rose.

"Okay, I can't wait for their wedding!" she squealed and started to skip.

Juleka stared at her girlfriend in concern _"did she listen to any part of what I just said?'_

"Rose, don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself?" Juleka asked, raising an eyebrow at the petite blonde.

"Getting ahead? No way! If I know Nath he'll be a worrying mess when it comes to wedding planning they'll need me Juleka" Rose said very seriously.

Juleka smiled and shook her head at Rose's fangirling.

* * *

Lila made her way to the cinema. She had been able to go home first and change into a red hoodie with white stripes around the sleeves, a pair of black jeans and Black doc martens before Marinette had texted her telling her what cinema they were going to, at what time. Lila had texted Nathanael the same only she had added on _you better come or I'm going to destroy you!_ She smiled to herself, she was such a good friend.

Lila saw Marinette waiting at the entrance doors and ran up to her with a happy smile.

"Hey, Lila," Marinette said with a wave.

Lila smiled "Hey Marinette" Lila came to stand beside the "So where's Adrien?" she asked looking around.

"Oh, I was just going to ask you the same thing about Nathanael" Marinette giggled.

"Oh well I'm sure they'll arrive soon," Lila said.

Marinette nodded as a silence descended upon them. They stood there for a while before Marinette spoke.

"So um…are you and Nathanael dating are something?" she asked.

"W-What!" Lila stuttered out, a blush was developing on her face as she turned to look at Marinette with wide eyes.

Marinette saw Lila's distress and gasped "Oh I'm sorry is it meant to be a secret?"

"What's meant to be a secret?" Lila asked.

"You and Nathanael dating" Marinette replied.

Lila's face turned even redder "No!" she laughed anxiously "me and Nathanael aren't dating"

"You aren't?" the midnight-blue haired girl asked with doubt in her eyes.

Lila shook her head "No, Me and Nathanael are just good friends that's all"

Marinette nodded "oh okay"

Then Adrien and Nathanael came walking up together.

"Hey, Marinette…oh and Lila," Adrien said.

"Hi, Adrien" Lila said. She glanced at Marinette and saw a huge blush spreading across her face "A-Adrien welcome…I mean hello…no Hi" she laughed in embarrassment.

Lila winced _'wow! No wonder she was desperate for Alya to come. She's awful at this whole talking to your crush thing'_

Adrien smiled at Marinette's weirdness "um…so we going into the cinema?"

"Uh yeah" Marinette nodded as Adrien walked in. Before Marinette could follow Lila grabbed her hand stopping her. Marinette looked at her in question.

"Okay…Marinette as your replacement Alya" Marinette giggled at that. "I've got to tell you to calm because you're totally giving off serial killer vibes"

Beside them, Nathanael burst out laughing. Lila gave him a look which made him be quiet though he continued to snigger.

She turned back to Marinette who was glaring at her "Alya would say it much nicer than that" she grumbled.

"Yeah well, I'm not Alya" Lila deadpanned. "Okay you're going to take a deep breath and then you're going to walk in there and be yourself…unless he doesn't like who are then I suggest you change everything about yourself" Lila smiled.

"um Lila that's not good advice," Nathanael said.

"Sshh Nathy I know my stuff I've dated before," Lila said with a smug smile.

Marinette rolled her eyes "can I go now?"

"Yes go my protégé and make me proud!" Lila said dramatically, clutching her hands over her heart.

Marinette laughed awkwardly and walked into the cinema.

"Now are you coming, Nathy?" Lila asked, looking at the red-haired boy.

Nathanael glared at Lila.

"What is it now?" Lila sighed.

"It's just…how do you know I've never dated before?" he asked bitterly.

Lila smirked, "and have you dated before?"

"Well…no but that's not the point!" Nathanael argued an embarrassed blush appearing on his face.

"So what was your point?" Lila asked.

"My point…well…my point was that…we should go watch the stupid movie!" he said before storming through the doors.

Lila followed behind giggling.

After they had all bought their drinks and popcorn which had taken a bit longer than usual with Lila and Nathanael arguing with each other who was buying who the stuff. Marinette and Adrien had waited sending each other awkward glances. Lila had eventually succeeded in letting Nathanael let her buy him his ticket as well as his popcorn. Nathanael had rolled his eyes while he had grumbled but Lila had smiled brightly.

When they finally entered to watch the movie Lila had pulled Nathanael into the row behind Marinette and Adrien so Marinette and Adrien could have alone time.

"I'm still going to pay you back," Nathanael said as he sat down beside Lila

Lila sighed "We've been through this Nathy, you do not need to pay me back!"

"I still feel bad for letting you pay for me" Nathanael grumbled.

"Don't be I wanted to pay" Lila hissed back "now be quiet the movie is starting"

Half-way through the movie, Lila fixed her attention on Marinette and Adrien and sighed Adrien was sitting watching the movie intently while Marinette was grinning weirdly as she kept glancing at Adrien.

Lila shook her head _'seriously what is it with Paris and its teens being so…Naïve!'_ Lila had, had enough of the being oblivious and shy. Her anger was beginning to sizzle. She was going to put an end to this. She leaned forward to whisper to Adrien. "Hey, Adrien"

Adrien jumped a little and glanced over his shoulder a bit at Lila, "What's wrong?" he whispered back.

Nathanael was now watching them curious as to what they were whispering about.

"Do you like Marinette?" Lila whispered back.

"Well, of course, she's a good friend," Adrien said.

Lila narrowed her eyes at the model amazed he could lie to himself to the point of believing his own lies. The tiny blush was obvious on his face. Lila sighed she needed to find a way to work around this.

She sat back up straight on her seat and Adrien went back to watching the movie but he was a little confused by Lila's questioning.

"What was that all about?" Nathanael asked.

"Adrien is so oblivious he doesn't see his own obliviousness" Lila responded glaring at the back of the model's blonde head.

"Okay, I've lost you" Nathanael whispered.

"Adrien likes Marinette but doesn't realise it he said she was a good friend" Lila responded.

"Are you sure he likes her?" Nathanael asked "maybe he really does just think of her as a friend"

Lila nodded what Nathanael said did make a little sense. She remembered when she had gone to the library with Adrien it had seemed he had a thing for Ladybug. Lila rolled her eyes she didn't honestly believe anyone could like that pest but it seemed he did.

"Then I wonder who's going to break it to Marinette that he has a crush on the bug" Lila said quietly to herself.

Nathanael overheard and looked at Lila in confusion "Adrien likes bugs?"

Lila had to bite her tongue to stop herself laughing out-loud in the quiet theatre, well quiet except for the fact there was a group of children which would start randomly crying or fighting between each other at certain times, at the face, Nathanael pulled it was a mixture of disgust and confusion.

"I'll tell you some other time" Lila whispered before paying attention to the movie again.

Nathanael was left to wonder _'Adrien is attracted to bugs?'_ He looked at the model boy sitting in the row in front of them _'I know there are some weird people in the world…but how?'_

* * *

They came out of the Cinema and Marinette stopped and looked at all three of them "So um where should we go now?" she asked.

"Well you two can go and do whatever you two want me and Nathanael had something planned" Lila lied with a smile, she was wanting the two to go off on their own maybe then Adrien would fall for Marinette.

"We did?" Nathanael said, not fully getting what Lila was getting at.

Lila gently elbowed him "Yes, don't you remember Nathanael" Lila hissed, her eyes narrowed in warning.

Nathanael gasped finally understanding "Oh right, Yes plans…we have lots of plans….so many plans…you wouldn't believe how many plans we have" he laughed anxiously as he rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand

Marinette and Adrien looked at Nathanael in concern.

Lila sighed realising how bad a liar Nathanael was "that'll do Nathy" she said taking his left hand and quickly dragging him away.

"Um bye then" Adrien called after them.

"Bye," Lila said as she continued to dragging Nathanael off.

Adrien and Marinette stood in silence for a moment before Adrien asked: "Are they dating?"

Marinette looked at Adrien in surprise "Lila and Nathanael?" she asked. Adrien nodded.

"Well I asked Lila the same thing and she was all like _no way_ ," Marinette said.

"Oh, I see" Adrien nodded. Then he looked at Marinette with a grin "So where to Next Pr-Marinette?" Adrien chuckled anxiously having stopped himself from nearly saying ' _Princess'_

Marinette hadn't seemed to notice instead she was smiling shyly as a blush appeared on her cheeks. She looked shyly at the ground "Well where would you like to go? After all your perfect…I mean Perfect at picking places to go!" Marinette laughed.

"Oh okay well I know this great ice cream shop lets go there," Adrien said smiling, Marinette looked back up and noticed a childish gleam in his eyes and smiled softly. _'He is so cute'_ she thought as she followed him to the ice cream shop.

"Lila, what were you on about in the cinema?" Nathanael asked as he let the Italian girl drag him around a corner and out of the eyesight of Marinette and Adrien.

"What do you mean?" Lila asked, finally slowing down and walking casually beside Nathanael hand in hand.

"You said Adrien was attracted to bugs" Nathanael said with wide eyes.

Lila started to laugh. Nathanael glared.

"Lila tell me how you know about his weird secret!" Nathanael demanded.

Lila finally stopped laughing and took a breath to calm herself before speaking "Not Bugs, Nathy, he has a crush on the bug"

"The bug" Nathanael repeated.

Lila nodded "Adrien Agreste has a crush on Ladybug"

Nathanael let out a small gasp finally understanding the situation. "So that's why you said Marinette would be upset because he doesn't like her," Nathanael said.

Lila nodded.

"How did you find out he liked Ladybug?" Nathanael asked as they walked on down the street.

"It was on my first day in school. Me and Adrien had gone to the Library to work on some homework and then…" Lila let out a gasp as she remembered the book full of superheroes.

"Lila, what's wrong?" Nathanael asked, his ocean blue eyes were fixed on Lila full of concern. They stopped walking coming to a standstill on the footpath.

"It's nothing don't worry" she lied managing to fake a smile.

Nathanael fixed Lila with a hard stare his lips forming a tight line. Lila's heart rate increased as her worry doubled. She felt guilty for lying to Nathanael which she found surprising she had never felt guilty for lying to somebody before. ' _But_ _this isn't jus_ t _somebody_ _this is Nathanael_ ' Lila thought.

' _He's been there through everything so far…he stayed my friend even when he found out about my lies and he didn't judge me for hating Ladybug…but I have to lie…right?'_ Lila thought doubts forming in her mind.

"Lila…you know you don't need to hide things from me," Nathanael said.

"I'm not," Lila said, yet another lie.

Nathanael glared at the Italian but it was not a glare of anger it was more a glare of disappointment. He let go of her hand causing Lila to widen her eyes in shock.

"Lila, you promise no more lies!" Nathanael said, a certain hurt in his voice.

"I'm not…at least not really…anyway it's too late there's nothing we can do now" Lila said

"What do you mean?" Nathanael asked.

Lila shook her head and looked down at the ground refusing to look directly at the red-haired boy. "You'll hate me" Lila mumbled.

Nathanael reached across and took Lila's hand again, Making Lila look up into his seafoam eyes. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and smiled gently at her "Lila I will never hate you okay"

"How do you know that," Lila asked looking off to the side so her blush was less noticeable.

Nathanael shrugged a blush starting to appear on his cheeks "I don't know…I just won't, that's a promise"

Lila stared at him with her deep green eyes before she sighed "well okay"

"So you'll talk to me…no more hiding the truth?" Nathanael asked.

Lila nodded "as you've promised I'll also promise no more hiding the truth" Nathanael smiled, Happy that Lila was finally opening up to him. "So…?" he prompted.

"Adrien had a book it was full of superheroes…designs and stuff" Lila started.

"Like a sketchbook?" Nathanael asked, surprised and excited to hear that Adrien also liked drawing.

Lila shook her head "No he definitely didn't draw the stuff it looked like a really old book it had some weird foreign language written on the pages".

Nathanael nodded a little disappointed but he kept that to himself.

Lila gave another sigh "anyway Adrien was looking at a page on Ladybug and I may have got a little…jealous so I decided to…borrow the book that's how I found out about the vixen heroine…I wanted Adrien to like me so I lied that I was a superhero, that I was Volpina"

"Oh…so what about the book?" Nathanael asked.

"We were meeting in the park I meant to try an' slip the book back in his bag sometime without him noticing but I panicked when I saw him coming a little earlier than I expected and decided to hide it, unfortunately, the closest thing was a bin," Lila said sheepishly.

Nathanael started to snigger. Lila glared at him "This isn't funny now we're never going to get it back…I wonder if Adrien has noticed already"

"You put his book in a bin!" Nathanael laughed. "Could you not have…I don't know…hid it under the bench and then later acted like it fell from his bag"

Lila glared "I panicked okay, I wasn't in the right mind to be thinking up plans Mr know it all!" Nathanael laughed again.

"This is serious Nathanael! I never meant to forget about it! But then that whole Akuma thing happened" Lila said looking at the ground sadly.

Nathanael sighed "Well there's no way of getting it back now…it's probably recycled like all the paper trash…maybe he bought it online?"

Lila shrugged "I don't know I never asked where he got it but I suppose I could search to see if there is other copies"

Nathanael nodded "See everything will be fine now"

"I hope so" Lila said as they started walking again, still hand in hand.

* * *

When Lila finally got home with a happy smile from spending the day with Nathanael, he was such a good friend.

She sank down in her white, slightly fluffy and very comfy desk chair. She switched on her computer and it blinked into life showing her background photo which was of her hometown Genoa. It was photo she had taken her herself.

Lila opened up google and thought to herself _'I never got the name of the book…well I'll just search old book on superheroine Ladybug maybe then it'll show up'_

Lila typed this in and the computer started to search a page was brought up and gave out an aggravated sigh when nothing came up except some spell book stuff.

"I'm not looking for a spell book!" Lila complained out loud. She decided to type in another search.

Ten more searches later Lila was in a panic. She couldn't find mention to the book at all.

' _Shit! I bet it's one of a kind! When Adrien finds out-if he doesn't already know I'll never be able to return to school! This is awful! My life is over!'_

Lila was in a panicked fluster. Her brain was coming up with worst scenario after worst scenario. She needed help and fortunately, her phone pinged with a message.

Lila let out a tiny yelp-sounding a little like a fox- _'please don't be Adrien'_ She thought as she picked up her phone. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw it was Nathanael.

 _SuperNath: How's the book search going?_

Lila quickly typed a message out.

 _Rossifox: AWFUL!_

 _SuperNath: really that bad?_

 _Rossifox: Yes, I can't find it anywhere_

 _SuperNath: would there be any point in me searching?_

Lila smiled when she got Nathanael's message. _'He's so kind'_ she thought.

 _Rossifox: No I tried everything but that's sweet of you to ask._ Lila typed out before sending it.

 _SuperNath: okay, what you going to do now?_

Lila read his message and sighed. She honestly had no clue what she was going to do now. _'Maybe I should just forget about it after all Adrien hasn't said anything and it's been so long he's probably forgot himself'_ Lila thought hopefully.

 _Rossifox: No idea. Maybe Adrien's forgot about it._

 _SuperNath: Lila that's not nice I honestly think you should just own up and apologise._

Lila grumbled when she read his message she didn't like Nathanael being annoyed with her and she didn't like him being right.

 _Rossifox: but then everyone's going to hate me again and they've only recently started being my friends._

Lila had to wait a few seconds before Nathanael finally replied.

 _SuperNath: I'm sure that'll never happen they'll more likely be happy you actually owned up and apologised to Adrien than if you didn't and even if they did end up hating you I'll always be your friend no matter what._

Lila smiled when she read the message. _'Well as long as I always have Nathy then I'll be fine'._

 _Rossifox: fine I'll tell him first thing in the morning as long as you come with me._

 _SuperNath: of course._

After that, the messages stopped and Lila decided to get ready for bed a little early as she was tired out from the day. She collapsed into her bed but decided to read a little of a book to calm her thoughts. She chose from her bookcase the story _'Heartless'_ it was about the queen of hearts before she actually became the queen of hearts and how she changed into the self-centered queen all of Wonderland would grow to fear.

Lila loved the queen of hearts while all other little girls grew up loving Alice as they watched the movie or read the book. Lila never could stand the girl always causing problems and never could clean up her own mess. No Lila would always root for the Queen of Hearts sure she wasn't the nicest of characters but at the end of the day she was ruling a land full of crazy rule-breaking citizens that was bound to drive anyone to the point of enforcing some fear in them.

So Lila found herself reading a bit more than a little more specifically she ended up reading to the third last chapter only then did she managed to remove her tired eyes from the page and glance at the clock and she gasped at the time. It was so late she needed to sleep or else she would never get up!

She put her bookmark in the chapter closing the book and reluctantly putting it on the bedside table. She switched off the lamp and finally rested her head on her pillow before finally she drifted off to dreamland.

* * *

 **So I'm back! yeah, I'm so sorry that this took so long to update but blame the exams not me! anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully I'll have an update for you next week but I'm not going to make any promises.**


	9. Cupids Arrow

Morning sunlight streamed through the light curtains in Lila Rossi's room as an alarm clock beeped loudly.

The girl in question was sleeping peacefully unaware of the alarm going off. She rolled over and buried herself further under the sunset orange duvet.

The alarm finally stopped blaring turning the room back to silence. Lila slept on.

* * *

Nathanael waited by the school entrance for Lila. He looked through the crowd of passing students but couldn't see any glimpse of her. He sighed _'where the hell is she?'_

He reached into his pocket and took out his phone and checked the time. It was almost time for registration if Lila didn't come soon they were going to miss their chance to tell Adrien about the situation. He scanned the crowd again for any glimpse of Lila. Worry obvious in his wide blue eyes. He shifted on his feet anxiously as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

"Hey, Nathanael everything okay?" A voice chirped shocking him out of his thoughts.

Nathanael looked to the voice and saw Rose looking at him with confused blue eyes.

"Oh yeah everything's fine" he chuckled, a strained smile on his face.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked.

Nathanael sighed "It's just Lila's late"

Rose nodded "I see…well I'm sure she's fine"

Nathanael shrugged "I know but um we had something to do…we probably won't be able to do it now"

Rose raised a light blonde eyebrow in confusion but decided not to ask.

"Well registration is starting now so we better get going," she said with a gentle smile.

Nathanael nodded "uh yeah" Rose started walking on ahead and Nathanael followed but stopped for a moment looking over his shoulder then he took out his phone deciding to send Lila a quick text.

 _SuperNath: Where are you?_

He sighed as he put his phone back in his pocket. Rose looked over her shoulder "Nathan, you coming?" she asked.

Nathanael nodded and gave a quick smile as he walked faster to catch up with the petite blonde.

* * *

Back at the Rossi household Mia, her father's assistant had decided to check on Lila when she had realised the girl was still not up.

She knocked on the bedroom door and opened it a little. "Lila you up yet?" she called out.

There was no reply. Mia glanced in and shook her head with a sigh when she saw the girl was still asleep.

Mia walked in the room and over to the window pulling the curtains open "C'mon Lila it's time to get up!" she said loudly as the sunlight streamed in and onto Lila's face starting to wake her up"

Lila groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Too early" she muttered.

Mia laughed "more like too late"

"What," Lila said still half-asleep.

"You're late for school," Mia said, pushing a piece of stray blonde hair behind her ear.

That was enough to jolt Lila awake "huh? But my alarm…" she said as she sat up and threw off the bedcovers seeing the time on the clock she gasped "shit! I really am late"

"Well hurry yourself up!" Mia said "I'll make sure a car is ready, let's hope you don't miss too much"

Lila nodded and hurried to her wardrobe to get out her clothes.

After Lila was dressed and ready she hurried down the stairs nearly tripping in her hurry, luckily she caught the bannister in time.

"You need to be more careful," Mia said, her brown eyes narrowing in worry as she waited at the bottom of the stairs.

"Nothing happened so it's fine," Lila said, making her way down the last few stairs.

Mia shook her head at Lila's reckless attitude but said nothing more.

"Are you not getting breakfast?" Mia asked as she saw Lila head towards the door.

Lila shook her head gently her strands of her brunette hair flying softly around her "No time I'll get something at break"

Mia frowned her lips forming a tight line "very well but make sure you do!"

"Uh huh," Lila said opening the door and rushing to the waiting dark black car. She opened the door of the back seat and clambered in.

"I'm going to need you to drive as fast as you possibly can!" Lila said to the Charles, the main driver that would drive Lila from place to place. He nodded with a smirk he was used to Lila's bossy and reckless attitude so it didn't really offend him. Once Lila had shut the car door they were away off.

As Lila sat down in the backseat she reached into her bag and grabbed her phone. Turning it on she saw a notification that Nathanael had texted her. She bit her lip as she unlocked the phone and went into the message.

 _Supernath: where are you?_

Lila sighed and turned the phone off. She stared out the window at the passing blurs of people and buildings. She tapped her foot anxiously

' _I meant to tell Adrien the truth about his book but it's far too late now…if I tell him now everyone will be watching and listening…Nathanael's probably mad too'_

Lila let out a dramatic sigh _'Nothing is ever easy is it?'_

Then the car suddenly stopped with a jolt. Lila had to grab on to the front seat to stop her hitting her head.

"Sorry, Miss Rossi but you did advise me to drive fast," Charles said.

Lila let out a shaky laugh "uh yeah I did"

"We are nearly there by the way," Charles said.

Lila nodded and returned to looking out the window.

When they arrived at school Lila opened with the door with such force it was a wonder the door didn't fly off its hinges. She got out dragging her bag out and putting it on her shoulder. She shut the car door with a bang and rushed up the steps of Françoise Dupont.

She rushed to down the corridor her boots making a thud when they hit the ground that echoed in the quiet school corridor.

' _First class of the day was science…I think'_ Lila thought as she reached the science rooms she went to Ms. Mendeleiev's classroom.

She opened the door and walked in she could feel everyone's eyes watching her. She usually welcomed attention but right now she didn't really like the attention she was getting.

"Ahh Miss Rossi I see you've decided to grace us with your presence," Ms. Mendeleiev said with glare from where she was standing which was at the board.

Lila smiled sheepishly "Sorry I'm late…" she trailed off unsure what else to say.

"Yes, yes, of course, you are," Ms. Mendeleiev said a little bitterly "seeing this is your first time I'll let it slide now go and sit down" she ordered.

Lila nodded and was walking up to her seat. Her eyes glued to the floor when Chloe decided she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"Just as I thought the liar had finally left for good it's a pity right, Sabrina?" Chloe said with a sneer.

Lila stopped in her tracks and looked at Chloe with a venomous glare she was about to argue back when Marinette spoke up "Just be quiet, Chloe unlike you Lila is actually wanted here"

Lila turned to look at Marinette shocked and pleased to hear Marinette standing up for her.

Marinette was glaring daggers at the blonde brat. Alya spoke up as well "Yeah just keep your mouth shut Chloe"

Chloe glared at the two girls "I don't see why you're sticking up for her! Didn't she lie to you all about being besties with ladybug?" Chloe let out an annoying laugh and flicked her ponytail "As if that was ever true Ladybug would never hang out with a loser like you!"

"Girls, what is going on?" Ms. Mendeleiev shouted starting to see the commotion.

"They're bullying me! I demand that they all be punished" Chloe said putting on fake distress.

"Enough Chloe, also Lila get to your seat this instant!" Ms. Mendeleiev roared, fed up with the class's constant drama.

This did enough to shock Chloe into shutting up and to send Lila hurrying up to her seat.

She slid into her seat beside Nathanael who was drawing away in his sketchbook. Lila glanced over and saw he was working on a comic.

"Hey" she whispered.

"Hey" Nathanael replied gruffly. Lila bit her lip he sounded annoyed with her. He didn't even look at her continuing on with his drawing.

Lila raised an eyebrow confused and felt nervous knots tighten in her stomach. "Uh is everything okay?" Lila asked.

"Of course why would there be anything wrong" He responded sounding quite bitter.

Lila frowned knowing something was defiantly up but decided to wait and question him later on. She turned to look at the board and took out her notebook to start jotting down notes.

Later finally came and Lila was able to question Nathanael. They were in the now empty art room. All through the last subjects, Nathanael hadn't really said much to Lila.

Nathanael had packed up and was just about to head out when Lila stopped him grabbing his hand "Wait, Nath, we have to talk"

"What's to talk about?" he asked while wrenching his hand out of her grip.

"The fact you seem off with me!" Lila exclaimed. "It's not my fault I was late if that's what you're mad about"

"Is it not!?" Nathanael glowered.

Lila gave him a confused look "uh yeah I didn't mean to sleep in"

"Unless your only saying that cause you actually didn't want to tell the truth to Adrien," Nathanael said a coldness in his voice.

Lila gasped "what? How can you think that?"

Nathanael said nothing but he looked at her with a look of disappointment, his usual clear blue eyes had seemingly iced over as his mouth formed a tight line and eyebrows furrowed in a glare.

"Do you honestly not believe me?" Lila said quietly "I thought you trusted me?"

"I do its ju-"

Lila cut him off "Well you obviously don't!" cold anger could be sensed from her voice.

Nathanael sighed and rubbed his face pushing his bang of scarlet hair out of the way for a moment.

"Look I don't like fighting with you so let's just forget it"

"No! You obviously don't trust me…" she trailed off "I'm trying hard to tell the truth more often…I've been really honest with you and I don't open up easily to just anybody you know" small tears where starting to appear in the corner of her eyes.

Nathanael's eyes widened in shock _'Shit! She's crying…what do I do?'_ Nathanael stared at her in worry "um Lila you okay?"

Lila glared "Where you even listening?" she asked as tears dripped down her cheeks. She reached up furiously wiping them away. She didn't like feeling weak. She didn't like crying especially in front of people. Even if Nathanael was a friend.

"Of course I was listening" Nathanael sighed and sat down on a chair close to him "I do trust you and I'm sorry for upsetting you…I never meant to"

Lila sat down on a chair beside him "I know you didn't…I'm just hungry and tired"

"Tired? After sleeping in?" Nathanael chuckled.

"Yes, I stayed up too long reading," Lila said.

"Oh, I see…I can't really be too mad, seeing as I do the same thing when I'm sketching" Nathanael smiled.

"Good" Lila said standing up "Now come on I'm hungry and need food" Just as she said this her belly rumbled. An embarrassed blush appeared on her face.

Nathanael laughed "Apparently your stomach agrees" he stood up and they made their way to get food.

Lila and Nathanael were currently walking down the steps of the school.

"So where's a good place to get some food?" Lila asked

"We could go to the Dupain-cheng bakery" Nathanael suggested.

"Marinette's parents bakery?" Lila asked.

Nathanael nodded "Yeah, that's the one"

"Okay that sounds good" Lila nodded.

They set off in the direction to the Bakery.

They reached the Bakery and saw a group of people standing outside consisting of Adrien, Nino, Sabrina and Chloe. Lila's eyes widen when she recognised them. Nathanael also noticed the Adrien standing there. He looked at Lila.

"You could tell Adrien now…only if you wanted to, of course, I don't want to force you" Nathanael chuckled anxiously.

"No your right it's better to tell him now…I just hope people don't start hating me even more" Lila said clasping her hands together.

"Don't worry about that…I'll always be there for you" Nathanael smiled.

Lila looked at Nathanael with a small blush when she saw his shining blue eyes and a small smile. She glanced away quickly.

"Uh thank you, Nath," Lila said.

Nathanael chuckled "There's no need to thank me"

Lila approached the group cautiously. Nathanael followed a step behind.

"Um hey, Adrien" Lila called out.

She was met with stares and a glare. The glare was from Chloe of course.

"Lila, something wrong?" Adrien asked.

"Uh yeah, you could say that," Lila said with an anxious chuckle, she started to play with the bracelets she wore around her wrist.

She could feel the stares almost burning into her skin. She glanced at the ground "Can we talk in private?"

"No way whatever you have to say to Adrien you can say to all of us!" Chloe said, clutching Adrien's arm tightly.

Adrien looked at Chloe with a look of annoyance but sighed and said nothing.

Chloe continued on "Unless it's all lies you want to tell him? I wouldn't put it past you, after all, your nothing but a lousy liar!"

Lila clenched her fists and stared Chloe down as the anger became harder to control. Nathanael glanced at Lila and saw the angry tears start to form in the corner of her eyes as her body became stiff with fury.

He stood close to her as he glared at Chloe. Nathanael was not the type to get involved in fights especially when Chloe was concerned. He tried to avoid the _'Blonde brat'_ as much as he possibly could but he decided that seeing as Lila had been there for him he would be there for her.

Chloe Laughed "Did you honestly think Adrikins would ever be interested in a piece of trash like you?"

"Shut up!" Nathanael said in a cold but loud tone.

Everyone turned to stare at him in shock, it wasn't like Nathanael to raise his voice.

"Trash? The only trash around here is you, Chloe…Lila is better than you in every single way! Unlike you, she is much kinder, caring and a better friend than you would ever be and at least she actually tries to be a better person unlike you! All you ever do is sit around Bullying everyone acting like some self-entitled bitchy queen well I've got news for you, Chloe, No one likes you and we will never like you so just shut your mouth for once!" Nathanael looked at Chloe with an intense glare, his hands curled up into fists.

Lila stared at Nathanael with wide green eyes. She was surprised to see this much anger coming from the usually calm and quiet boy. He was this angry at someone just for her sake. Lila felt her cheeks become warm and her heartbeat quickened. Then she tensed as she realised what was happening.

' _Oh no'_ was her only thought.

"How dare you speak to me like that, Kurtzberg you're just a loser! I have a right mind to go to Mr. Damocles and tell him of this hateful bullying from both Lila and Nathanael" Chloe whined while flipping her ponytail.

"But they aren't bullying you," Nino said.

Chloe glared at him and grabbed Sabrina's arm making the girl widen her eyes in fright. "Really that's what you think well Sabrina here will back me up won't you, Sabrina," Chloe said, gripping the ginger-haired girls arm tightly.

Sabrina nodded "Y-yes of course"

Chloe smirked her usual bratty smirk when she got away with things when a voice spoke up wiping the smirk straight of her face.

"Chloe, I thought you promised me you were going to be nicer but yet again you're back to your usual cruel ways! If you continue on with this…I don't think I want to be _friends_ with you" Adrien said.

Chloe looked at him with large blue eyes "But Adrikins-"

"Save it, Chloe" Adrien said a ferocity in his voice nobody had heard before. "Come on, Nino we're leaving"

Adrien and Nino left. Walking back to the school leaving a shocked Chloe behind them. She whipped around staring at Lila and Nathanael with a venomous glare.

"This is all your fault!" she exclaimed "I'll make you pay-both of you!" she hissed. Then Grabbing Sabrina's hand she stormed away Sabrina stumbled after her before picking up the pace to keep up.

Lila and Nathanael stood in silence for a few seconds before Nathanael spoke "Maybe its best you don't tell Adrien for a little while longer"

"I think that would be best" Lila agreed

"So you want to get some food?" Nathanael asked.

"Sure," Lila said as they walked to the door of the bakery.

Lila pushed open the doorway and was instantly greeted with warmth and the heavenly smell of baked pastries. The pastries were displayed behind glass and all looked equally delicious with some decorated bright toppings of berries and some with sleek white icing.

Behind the counter stood Marinette. "Hey, Lila and Nathanael, what brings you in here?"

"Food" Lila responded as she looked over the various sweet treats.

Marinette laughed "Yes, I suppose that was a silly question"

Lila looked at her with bright eyes and a small smile "So you actually work here on your lunch break"

Marinette nodded "Yeah I wanted to give my parents a little break they had been working all day so far"

"Wow aren't you the perfect daughter," Lila said. "Unless is there an ulterior motive hmm?" Lila smirked.

"No, of course not I'm just that perfect" Marinette replied back a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Hey, Lila how about you stop annoying Marinette and pick something to eat, you were the one who said you were hungry," Nathanael said with a smirk.

Lila looked at Nathanael and then back at the many pastries on offer. She let out an overdramatic sigh "There is so many what happens if I pick one and then I regret it!"

Nathanael rolled his eyes but was smiling at her dramatics.

"Is she always like this?" Marinette asked Nathanael.

He nodded "Yeah, she never stops"

"You have my sympathy" Marinette teased.

"I can hear you, you know!" Lila said with a glare and folded arms.

Nathanael and Marinette laughed.

Lila and Nathanael exited the bakery, finally. Nathanael had feared that he was never going to see the outside world again. Lila had stood by the display of cupcakes, buns and other confectionaries and had let out many a sigh as she had tried to settle for what she wanted.

Nathanael had leaned against the wall also letting out many sighs. It hadn't helped that Lila would choose something and then change her mind by the fifth time this happen Nathanael had felt like tearing strands of his hair out in frustration.

"I'm glad I got this one" Lila said as she bit into the cream cake.

"So am I," Nathanael said as they turned the corner heading back to the school.

Lila looked at him "You sound grumpy, are you grumpy?"

"Why ever would I be grumpy?" Nathanael asked.

"Cause your overly sensitive" Lila smirked.

Nathanael frowned "I am _not_ overly sensitive" he stuck his hands in his pockets.

Lila laughed "You are"

"Well, your sensitive and also a drama queen so I think you've got me beat" Nathanael smirked

"Whatever you say," Lila said with a laugh as they reached the school building.

Though Lila seemed to be acting her usual self. Inside her head, she was a mess of emotions ever since Nathanael had stood up for her against Chloe she had begun to feel it. She hated herself a little for it. Nathanael was her friend and he was a great friend too! She couldn't ruin things. She always did.

No Matter how much she tried to pretend it wasn't there it didn't help. She sighed to herself. She couldn't be in love with Nathanael, could she?

"Lila, are you even Listening" Nathanael's voice broke into her thoughts.

They were standing in the school now, near the lockers. Many students were standing around chatting, grabbing things from their lockers or rushing through the crowds to get to their classroom.

"Huh," Lila said, focusing back on the red-haired boy.

"You weren't listening were you?" he frowned.

"I was listening" Lila lied.

Nathanael raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really, what was I talking about?" he smirked.

Lila froze. She hadn't the faintest idea what Nathanael had been going on about. She searched his wide blue eyes hoping by some miracle an answer would come to her. It didn't.

She sighed, defeated. "Fine, I wasn't listening" she confessed.

Nathanael rolled his eyes "I already knew that what's wrong with you?" he opened his locker to get out a book

"Nothing's wrong with me," Lila said, looking at the passing students instead of at Nathanael.

He narrowed his eyes in concern "Lila, something is obviously wrong…it isn't like you to be so…spacey"

"Hey, Lila and Nath" Rose said, interrupting the two.

"Hi, Rose," Nathanael said.

As Rose and Nathanael began to talk Lila went back into her thoughts.

' _What am I going to do? I can't be in love with my best friend…I just need some space, yes, that's what I'll do. If I stay away from Nathanael these stupid feelings will disappear and we can go back to being normal friends without me ruining things!'_

With that final, though Lila quietly slipped away, Nathanael and Rose didn't notice. She navigated her way through the crowds of students.

"So Chloe is mad with you and Lila now?" Rose asked.

Nathanael nodded "Pretty much, not that I really care what that idiot thinks" he laughed "I'm sure you don't care either, right Lila" he turned around to look at the brunette girl only to notice she had disappeared.

"W-what, where did she go?" Nathanael said, scanning the crowds for the Italian girl.

Rose looked around as well and then notice Lila's long brown hair as she ran around a corner and out of the sight of Nathanael and Rose.

"She's just after running away, that way" Rose pointed out.

Nathanael looked in the direction she was pointing "Did she need something from the library?" he wondered aloud.

"What's wrong with Lila anyway, it's not like her to just run off and not tell you," Rose said.

"I honestly have no clue," Nathanael said "I wish I did but I've learnt the more you try and ask Lila what's wrong the more she closes up…" he trailed off with a sigh.

Rose's sky blue eyes became overcast as they filled with sadness "Oh" she said. Then her eyes brightened up again as an idea came to mind "How about I go ask her what's wrong maybe she'll speak to me"

Nathanael looked doubtful for a moment before he gave Rose a gentle smile "I suppose you could try"

"Of course I could!" Rose said with a bright smile "I'll go talk to Lila then, bye Nath" she said as she ran off.

Nathanael smiled. Rose was always so positive. He had no idea how she stayed so positive but it wasn't hard to get caught up in her positive attitude. If Rose couldn't find out what was wrong with Lila then Nathanael was certain nobody could. He walked off to class happily.

Lila sat in the library. Far down the back hiding from the world. She let out a quiet frustrated growl as she scored out another sentence in her black notebook. Lila had come to the peacefulness of the library to try and clear her mind but so far her mind was becoming less and less clear. She had thought writing down her feelings would help as well but it was making things worse.

' _Why did I have to fall for Nathanael?'_ she asked herself but she already knew. She always had known. Since the first day, she had met him Lila had felt something for the quiet boy with the fiery red hair and the seafoam eyes.

The feelings had grown stronger the more she had got to know him. She sighed. He would never like someone like her. She was a liar and sometimes she was selfish, unkind. She had been told many times she was too stubborn, loud and hot-headed for her own good.

Nathanael, on the other hand, was always so calm, quiet, kind and honest. How would someone like Nathanael ever consider liking her? She knew he wouldn't.

She took a calming breath and placed her pen back on the paper as she began to write her feelings for Nathanael.

 _The eyes are a mirror to the soul_

 _And your eyes are like a vast ocean_

 _They draw me in._

 _Wanting me to dive down, deep into the unknown_

 _To see what's hidden beneath the depths,_

 _But I am afraid I will drown._

 _Maybe I already have._

 _Yet, it seems I do not mind._

 _Your eyes are like oceans_

 _And_

 _Yes, I want to drown._

Lila looked at her writing and let out a melancholy sigh. This was no good. How was writing stuff like this help her get over her feelings for Nathanael?

"You Okay, Lila" a voice chirped behind her.

Lila gasped and quickly shut the black notebook, the stars on the front cover shined in the light.

The chair beside her was pulled out and Rose sat down looking at Lila with large blue eyes.

"Uh I'm Fine," Lila said with an anxious chuckle. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh it's just Nathanael was worried about you," Rose said.

"He doesn't have to be!" Lila snapped.

Rose looked at her in shock and Lila gave an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap it's just…" she trailed off unsure how to end the sentence without confessing about her feelings for Nathanael.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" Rose said "But I've found it's much better if you share your problem with a friend, who knows maybe they could help" Rose smiled.

Lila looked Rose, her deep green eyes conveying many an emotion. "You're my friend, right?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I am," Rose said, happily.

Lila opened her mouth to tell Rose her problem then paused unsure if it was wise. She looked at Rose again who was patiently waiting with bright eyes and a kind smile.

She could trust Rose she was sure of that. Rose had been one of the first people to forgiven and accept her. She had helped Lila out with all the judgmental stares and hateful remarks.

"The thing is…I kind of…I think…" she trailed off with a sigh. She closed her eyes calming herself and opened them again deciding she may as well confess.

"I like Nathanael, okay," she said quietly, her eyes nervously looking around in case someone else was overhearing.

"By like you mean more than a friend, right?" Rose asked, excitement sparkling in her eyes.

"Yes, obviously," Lila said a deep red blush on her face.

"Oooh, this is so exciting!" Rose exclaimed, jumping up from her chair.

"Keep your voice down!" Lila hissed she grabbed Rose's arm pulling her back down.

Rose giggled "Sorry, it's just great that you like him"

"No, it's not" Lila grumbled, sliding further down and leaning back in her chair.

"Why not?" Rose asked

"Because someone like Nathanael isn't going to like me back like that, we're just friends," Lila said.

Rose's smile fell and her eyes clouded over "You really think that?"

Lila nodded and crossed her arms.

"I don't think that's true…I'm sure Nath could like you back," Rose said standing up.

"Woah, where are you going?" Lila asked in a panic. Grabbing Rose's wrist.

"To ask Nathanael, of course," Rose said.

"No, no you can't!" Lila cried.

Rose sat back down but Lila still had a grasp on her arm.

"Why not?" she asked, "I can just ask him _do you have any feelings for Lila_ and then he'll tell me the answer and the whole thing will be sorted out!" Rose said happily.

"Nope, not happening!" Lila said, letting go of Rose's arm so she could fold her arms. "You are not allowed to tell anyone about my…crush on Nathanael, you are especially forbidden from telling Nathanael"

Rose pouted her eyes widened in sadness.

"Make cute puppy dog eyes all you want, nobody is to know, I mean it, Rose!" Lila said, a cold glare in her eyes.

"What about Juleka?" Rose asked. "I don't keep secrets from Juleka"

Lila sighed "If she asks you about it and you know she can keep her mouth shut then fine she can know, but nobody else"

"Okay, thanks, Lila," Rose said. "Lila you know we're like really late to class"

"What? But the-" she left her sentence unfinished when she looked at the time and let out a gasp. "Oh shit, we're going to be killed" Lila exclaimed packing up her stuff into her bag.

"We're in history with Mr Bunting, Right?" Rose said, oddly calm about being really late to class.

"Yes," Lila said as she slung her bag over her shoulder and rushed out of the Library. Rose followed behind a skip in her step.

Lila stopped outside the history classroom door to catch her breath. She had run all the way here. Mr Bunting was a strict uptight teacher and the one thing he hated most was tardiness.

Lila knew she was going to have to listen to an hour-long lecture in front of the class about how a student must always be prepared and on time to class, Chloe would be sitting there with an annoying smirk on her face. Then he would probably send them to Mr Damocles.

Lila sighed placing her hand on the door hand, preparing herself for her embarrassing fate.

"Aren't you going to open the door?" Rose said.

Lila looked at her "You're oddly calm about facing a boring shouting lecture in front of the whole class"

Rose just smiled at Lila but her eyes were sparkling with mischief. Lila was confused but decided to ignore it as she opened the door and walked in with Rose.

"Where were you two?" Mr Bunting yelled.

Lila winced.

Rose smiled "I'm ever so sorry Mr Bunting but I had to take Lila to the school nurse she wasn't feeling well, the poor pet" she hugged Lila and looked up at her with large innocent eyes.

Lila looked down at her in confusion. Then Rose winked at her quickly. Lila smirked as she began to understand. _'Who knew Rose could be so mischievous…no wonder we're friends'_

"Oh yes, I wasn't feeling well so Rose being ever the kind friend took me to the nurse but then I realised that our next class was history and I knew that I could not miss it!" Lila said, trying hard not to smirk or to start laughing. She was usually great at lying and keeping a straight face but it appeared when you lied to someone with a friend it just made it funny.

Mr Bunting looked at them suspiciously his dark thick eyebrows furrowed into a glare. "Fine, now get in your seats you've already wasted enough of my time," he said in a gruff voice

"Yes, Mr Bunting" the girls chorused as they rushed up to their seats near the back.

"Now back to World war two," Mr Bunting said.

Lila looked and saw Nathanael looking at her wide blue eyes, she looked at the floor quickly as a heat appeared on her face. She hoped the blush wasn't obvious.

She sat down beside him, still refusing to look directly at him.

"I know that was made up" Nathanael whispered to her. She could sense the smirk on his face.

"Possibly" Lila whispered, avoiding eye contact as she opened her bag to get her writing utensils out.

Nathanael looked at Lila with concern. She was being weirdly tense and didn't seem to want to look at him. _'Did I do something to upset her?'_ Nathanael thought to himself. He focused back on the board where Mr Bunting was writing down some key notes that could possibly appear in the exam.

Lila glanced at Nathanael out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't keep acting weird he would suspect her crush sooner or later. Lila prided herself on being a great actress so why couldn't she act like her normal self?

' _I'm going to have to push my feelings to the back of my mind. I can act like I don't have any feelings, it'll be easy"_ even though she thought this Lila was unsure if she could actually do it. She began writing down the notes.

In her mind, she was certain she was making the right decision. She wasn't going to ruin her friendship with Nathanael just because of some silly crush, no she would forget about it. She valued their friendship far too much.

* * *

 **I'm glad I finally found time to post this chapter, life has been pretty hectic so sorry about the long wait also don't judge the poem, I am bad at writing poems, I know, but I spent ages writing and deleting different version of the poem because I wanted it to be perfect then I realised it was _never_ going to be perfect so I just settled for that one. Anyway, that's all I hoped you liked this chapter and that you are having a great day.**


	10. The Liar and the Lackey

It was a new day and Lila had a newfound confidence in her ability at acting. So far she had been doing really well in pushing away her feelings and just being great friends with Nathanael.

It had helped that she had only two classes left with him yesterday, History and then Music. The rest of that day she had stayed at home, doing schoolwork and then either mindlessly scrolling through social media or reading. She did text Nathanael but it was easier texting than speaking in real life.

Their first class was English with Miss Bustier who was the only teacher Lila liked so far well Miss Bustier and her drama teacher Miss Taylor.

She stopped short when she saw Sabrina walking around and muttering to herself, her teal eyes glued to the ground.

Lila narrowed her eyes wondering what the ginger-haired girl was up to.

"Sabrina, you okay?" Lila called out.

Sabrina jumped and turned around with wide eyes looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Oh…Hi, Lila, I'm fine" Sabrina said with an anxious chuckle.

"You sure?" Lila asked walking closer to the girl.

Sabrina sighed "Well, I don't have the English book for next class

"Can you not share with Chloe?" Lila asked.

Sabrina shook her and anxiously replied "Uh well Chloe is actually borrowing mine and she doesn't like sharing"

Lila rolled her eyes and muttered "I should have guessed"

"What do you mean by that" Sabrina said, a ferocity in her voice.

Lila placed her hand on her hip "I mean that Chloe is quite possibly the worst person I have ever met and I have met a lot of jerks and Bullies in my time"

"Chloe is not a bully or the worst," Sabrina said.

"Fine, tell me some good things Chloe has done for you" Lila smirked.

Sabrina gulped as she tried to think of some nice things Chloe had done for her.

"She gave me this lovely brooch," Sabrina said pointing to the brooch on her sweater "And she gave me her very stylish beret…she sometimes lets me come to fancy parties with her and…and she lets me borrow clothes if I do her homework!" Sabrina finished with a proud smile.

"I know you think that's all nice but from what I hear Chloe's just lording her money over you to make you be her willing slave, you should get some better friends Sabrina," Lila said with a rueful smile.

Sabrina glared "I don't have to listen to what a _Liar_ says!" she crossed her arms and raised her head looking away from Lila.

Lila smiled. She had been called a Liar so much the past weeks that it didn't really affect her as much as it usually would have.

"So I'm guessing you wouldn't want to borrow a _Liar's_ book" Lila reached into her bag and grabbed the book.

They were reading Candide by Voltaire. Lila had been secretly reading on not because she was enjoying the book sure it was alright but it wasn't really her style of novel. No, it was because though she could speak fluent French with only the occasional mix up reading French was a little harder she could do it but it took her longer than others to grasp onto meanings.

She was getting better at it though so she was pleased with herself. Reading on in the book meant she could understand what was happening without making an embarrassment of herself if she was asked a question.

She held the book out to the ginger-haired girl who looked at her in surprise.

"Why are you holding your book out?"

"To give it to you, duh" Lila responded

"You are willingly lending me your book…how are you going to read in class?" Sabrina asked.

"I'm sure Nath will share his book with me unlike Chloe he isn't selfish," Lila said.

Sabrina smiled and took the book "Thank you"

"Hey, Lila you coming to class" Nathanael called over from the stairway.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Lila said turning her head to look at Nathanael. She glanced back at Sabrina with a smile "Good luck on making some better friends" then she walked away. Catching up with Nathanael to walk to class together.

Sabrina watched them walk off thinking about Lila had said.

"Hey, Nath can I share your English book with you," Lila asked as they walked down the corridor to class.

"Of course" Nathanael answered "What happened to yours? Did you lose it? That's typical of you" he teased.

"No, I loaned it to Sabrina," Lila said

Nathanael went quiet. Lila glanced at him wondering if something was wrong.

"I don't know what you're helping her out for, she's as bad as Chloe you know she helped Chloe in many of her hateful schemes, such as locking Juleka in the bathroom," Nathanael said.

"No way!" Lila said.

"Yes," Nathanael said.

"Still it's not her fault her best friend is a bully I'm sure she's sorry for the things she has done to help Chloe," Lila said.

"I never had you down for someone with such a forgiving heart…I think you're spending too much time with Rose" Nathanael chuckled "She's a bad influence on you"

They walked into the classroom together.

"I'd hardly say Rose is a bad influence" Lila giggled.

It was later in the day and they were walking to drama class with Miss Taylor well Lila was walking while Nathanael was dragging his feet he didn't want to go.

"I don't know why you don't like drama class it's the best class!" Lila exclaimed, pulling the unwilling Nathanael to Class.

"Uh maybe it's the fact I can't act, I get stage fright and I end up embarrassing myself!" Nathanael said, a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Lila rolled her eyes at his whining. They had reached the classroom and walked inside.

Lila sat eagerly waiting what drama activity they were going to do. Nathanael lied with his head on his desk, he was not sleeping though he wished he was maybe then he wouldn't have to do stupid drama.

Miss Taylor walked into the classroom. Miss Taylor was a woman of small height, she was dark skinned and had bright amber eyes as well as dark curly hair.

She was probably the most laid-back and fun teacher in the school. Letting the students do what they want as long as it didn't get her in too much trouble with Mr Damocles. She tried to make sure everyone took part in activities even the shy kids wanting to help grow their confidence so there was no way of Nathanael getting out of doing drama.

She clapped her hands, bringing the attention of the rowdy class back to her. "Okay, Class today we're going to do a paired activity today"

Some of the class whispered "yass" and some of the class let out groans.

Miss Taylor shook her head at the class "Now come on, it'll be fun!" she walked to her desk and sat upon it, she had a fondness of doing this. Lila had concluded she must do it so had a sense of being taller.

"So I'm going to sort you into pairs" Miss Taylor continued on.

"But Miss Taylor we usually pick our own groups" Alya shouted out.

"Yes we usually do but if you remember correctly that didn't work out so well" Miss Taylor chuckled.

Some of the class looked down at their desks sheepishly.

"Okay so shall we sort into a pair first" Miss Taylor looked over the class her amber eyes falling on Lila.

"Lila how about you and…" she scanned the students and finally decided "Sabrina pair up"

"Oh okay," Lila said, slightly upset she had hoped to pair up with Nathanael.

Sabrina glanced back at the Italian girl as Chloe muttered about how she was glad it wasn't her.

Miss Taylor nodded and continued on with pairing people up for the activity.

In the end up, Rose was paired with Nathanael, Juleka with Marinette, Adrien with Alya, Kim with Nino, Ivan with Max and Mylene and finally Alix and Chloe were paired together.

Chloe hadn't been too pleased about that but she wasn't really pleased with much so Miss Taylor had just told her to be quiet.

"Okay class, get in your pairs and then together you must create a drama routine…we probably won't be able to perform it today so I'll get you guy's to perform in tomorrow's class"

As Miss Taylor was saying this the class was scraping back chairs and going over to who they were meant to pair with.

"I'll go over to Rose…We all know Chloe won't get up for you" Nathanael said.

Lila smirked "Yeah"

Sabrina came timidly over to Lila, holding Lila's English book.

"Lila I never gave you this back yet, thanks," Sabrina said holding out the English book.

"Oh, No problem," Lila said accepting the book back. "So are you going to sit down?"

Sabrina, who had been standing there anxiously shifting from foot to foot blushed embarrassed "Uh yeah" she sat down on the seat still seeming tense.

"So what shall we do for our drama routine," Lila asked opening out her black notebook to write down notes.

"You're going to write?" Sabrina asked in confusion.

Lila laughed "Yeah unless you wanted to…I don't really care"

Sabrina shook her head "No, it's okay…it's just I usually wrote down the stuff and um make up the stuff…Chloe would sit there and do nothing"

Lila glanced over with a glare at the blonde haired girl who was currently chatting or well Complaining away to Alix who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but sitting beside Chloe.

Lila turned her attention back to Sabrina who was looking at Lila through her glasses with Large Round eyes.

' _She reminds me of an owl…I like owls, not as much as foxes though'_ Lila thought to herself.

"Er Lila, you okay?" Sabrina asked.

Lila blinked and came out of her thoughts "What…Oh, yes I was just thinking" she smiled "Anyway you needn't worry about doing all the work yourself because this will be a team effort"

Sabrina smiled "that sounds nice"

"Great, so any ideas?" Lila asked.

Sabrina put on a look of concentration as she began to think of some ideas for their drama routine.

While Sabrina was thinking of ideas Lila began rambling with her ideas "I was thinking maybe we could do an act about a rebellious princess…no, no that's too cliché um maybe…"

Sabrina cut in excitedly. "I have an idea!" she exclaimed.

Lila looked at her in surprise.

"Sorry…" Sabrina muttered, looking down at her hands.

"No, it's okay, so what's your idea," Lila asked.

"I thought we could do a duologue of a girl breaking out of a toxic friendship," Sabrina said with a bright grin.

"That's a good idea…How'd you come up with it?" Lila asked she had a suspicion she already knew.

Sabrina blushed and looked down at the table. Wringing her hands underneath the table "Uh I" before she had to explain a fight broke out.

It seemed Alix had had enough of Chloe. Lila and the rest of the class's attention had turned to the two of them.

"As if I'm going to be bossed around by someone who's makeup looks like a clown put it on!" Alix shouted.

"At least my hair doesn't look like a birds nest" Chloe retorted.

"Girls, what is the matter?" Miss Taylor said coming in between the two girls.

"Alix is not co-operating on my idea for the act" Chloe whined, stamping her foot.

"I'm not acting as your slave!" Alix roared, fiery anger in her eyes.

"Girls, Girls please quiet down we don't want to wake the dead!" Miss Taylor chuckled anxiously.

"Miss Taylor, tell her I don't have to play the part of the slave" Alix whined.

"Miss Taylor, tell Alix that we are not doing her ridiculous idea of being spies from the future imagine the damage it could do to my hair!" Chloe exclaimed, once again using her hand to flip her ponytail.

' _She makes me think of an arrogant pony flipping that ponytail so much…maybe a Shetland pony I've heard their vicious'_ Lila thought.

"Girls enough of this, outside now!" Miss Taylor said pointing towards the door.

Both girls looked at Miss Taylor in shock but she glared at them showing she meant it.

Both girls grumbled and walked out of the classroom.

"You guys keep on working on while I sort this out" Miss Taylor said as she walked out of the classroom after them.

There were a few minutes of silence before the class started being noisy again.

"Alix's idea was actually good maybe we should do it if she's not," Kim said to Nino.

"We're not stealing her idea unless you want to be punched" Nino sighed.

"Maybe I could fake my death that way I don't have to do this shit" Nathanael muttered.

"It's not that bad, Nath" Rose giggled.

Nathanael just collapsed his head on the desk, apparently sleeping was the next best option to death.

"I'm not sure I'll be the best option for the mysterious sorceress," Juleka said

Marinette looked at her in confusion "Um why do you think that?"

"Because nothing about me is witchy it could confuse people," Juleka said.

"So I was thinking that if I'm playing a reporter that you could be Chat Noir!" Alya said excitedly

Adrien went pale "W-what?"

"Yeah, I could get Marinette to make you a mask to make it more realistic"

"NO!" Adrien exclaimed.

Alya looked at him in shock.

"I mean no that won't be necessary," Adrien said with an anxious laugh.

"Um okay," Alya said a suspicious look in her eyes.

"So if my predictions are right, which I'm sure they are, our play will not only be most entertaining it will also be most educational," Max said pushing his glasses up.

Ivan and Mylene shared a confused look.

"You really think a play about an evil scientist will be educational?" Ivan asked.

"Yes," Max said as he began to write up another script for Mylene.

Mylene smiled and shrugged her shoulders "Well as long as it's not scary I'm fine"

"So how'd you come up with the plot for the play" Lila asked.

Sabrina pulled on the sleeve of her white shirt as she looked at the table avoiding Lila's keen gaze.

"Uh well I know that Chloe isn't the best person to be friends with…not that it's all bad, sometimes if she really tries she can be really great fun to be friends with but um sometimes she can get really nasty…" Sabrina said in a rush.

Lila smiled ruefully "Why don't you try and be friends with others in the class?"

Sabrina looked up and blinked her eyes owlishly at Lila "Chloe's my only friend…after the things I've done helping Chloe there is no way people will want to be my friend"

Lila bit her lip as she remembered Nathanael complaining about the things Sabrina did along with Chloe. If Nathanael, who was normally a very forgiving person was holding a grudge against the girl then Sabrina's chances of gaining new friends weren't very likely among the class.

Still, Lila knew what Sabrina was feeling like and she knew it wasn't a nice feeling. She reached across and grabbed Sabrina's hands in her own.

Sabrina looked at her in confused shock.

"I want to be your friend," Lila said with a bright smile.

"Really?" Sabrina asked.

Lila nodded with a Laugh "Of course, do really think I would lie to you"

Sabrina looked at her with wide doubtful eyes and Lila instantly knew what she was thinking of.

"Besides that time but we don't mention that, okay"

Sabrina nodded "Okay"

Then the bell went for the end of Class. Lila let go of Sabrina's hands and stood up collecting her books and putting them in her bag. She was about to go up to Nathanael and Rose so they could walk to next class together when she felt Sabrina tug at her jacket she looks at the girl wondering what was wrong.

Sabrina blushed "Um I was wondering could we meet up in the library at break so we can finish our script for the play if that's okay with you?"

Lila smiled gently "Of course, sounds great" then she walked fast to catch up with Nathanael, Rose and Juleka who were already leaving the classroom.

"Nathanael, wait up" she called out.

Nathanael stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder at the approaching Italian.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" she pouted as she caught up and they resumed their walk to next class together.

"Didn't think I needed to, you and Sabrina looked like you were having a great time" Nathanael responded, Lila thought she could hear a hint of bitterness in his voice.

She smirked, "Is someone Jealous?"

Nathanael rolled his eyes "Whatever would I be jealous of?"

Lila pouted and frowned as she looked down at the ground, sure it wasn't nice to want someone to be jealous but at least if he was jealous it let Lila know that he might possibly have feelings for her but it looked like he didn't so Lila was upset.

"So what are you and Sabrina doing for your drama act," Nathanael asked.

That Question was enough to brighten Lila up. "We're doing a play on a girl breaking out of a toxic friendship, it was Sabrina's idea. She comes up with really good ideas don't you think?" Lila was rambling, which usually happened when she was excited about something.

"If you say so," Nathanael said

"So what are you and Rose doing?" Lila asked.

"You mean what is Rose doing," Nathanael said with a smirk.

"huh?" Lila said confused.

"I've decided to fake my own death and you're going to help me," Nathanael said.

Lila started laughing "you want to…" she had to pause due to her laughter "Fake your own death to get out of doing drama"

Nathanael nodded "yes, that's how much I hate it"

"I'll try not to take any offence," Lila said with a grin.

"Why would it offend you?" Nathanael asked as they were nearing the classroom for science.

"Because I love drama and you're insulting it don't hear me insulting Art, do you?" Lila teased.

"Ah but that's because you love art" Nathanael smirked.

"Who said I loved art?" Lila asked.

"Me," Nathanael said as he walked into the classroom.

Lila rolled her eyes as she followed him in. She was content to let Nathanael keep thinking she loved art.

Lila was walking out of the science Classroom with Nathanael when someone grabbed her arm, she looked in surprise and saw Sabrina. Who was smiling at her with bright eyes.

"Oh hey, Sabrina what's up?" she asked.

Sabrina's smile fell a little and her eyes became clouded "You said we could go to the library now to write up our script"

Lila gasped and nodded her head "Oh right, yes I did, sorry I forget for a bit there"

Sabrina giggled "That's okay, good thing I reminded you" Sabrina was about to drag Lila to the Library when Nathanael got in her road.

"Lila, what's going on?" Nathanael asked.

"I have to go with Sabrina to the library so we can write up our script" Lila explained.

Lila observed as she watched Nathanael look at Sabrina with, was that a glare. Lila shook her head a little at that why Nathanael would be glaring at Sabrina for, Lila had no idea.

"But we usually go to the park with Rose and Juleka," Nathanael said.

"We have work to do, she can miss out on going to the park with you this once, can't she?" Sabrina asked with a glare at the redhead.

Nathanael just glared back "Fine, but it's no problem if I come with you two" he looked at Lila his gaze softening.

Before Lila could say it was alright with her Sabrina quickly spoke up.

"No, it's not, we don't need any distractions" she hissed, before quickly pulling Lila away before Lila could protest or Nathanael could say anything more.

Nathanael glared after the ginger-haired girl who was currently stealing his friend away from him.

"Hey, Nathanael," Rose said then she saw the frown that was on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Nathanael looked at the petite blonde and tried to remove his frown "It's nothing…"

"Obviously something has annoyed you," Rose said.

Nathanael sighed "It's just Lila seems to be having more fun hanging out with Sabrina than she does me…I shouldn't be annoyed after all she's allowed have more than one friend…I suppose what I'm actually worried about is that Lila will forget all about me now Sabrina's hanging around"

"I'm sure Lila won't forget about you," Juleka said, she had come up to the two of them while Nathanael had been talking.

"Yeah, I for one know for certain that Lila cares for you a lot," Rose said, then she gasped as she realised what she had said.

Nathanael and Juleka looked at her in confusion.

"Ahh, I mean she cares for your friendship a lot" Rose corrected herself with an anxious laugh "Yeah, your Friendship"

This seemed to fool Nathanael who nodded with a small smile "I guess and it's just until tomorrow after they do the drama routine I'm sure Sabrina will go running back to Chloe"

Rose nodded with a bright smile "Yeah, so shall we go to the park?"

Nathanael nodded "It's safer than me going to the library I'm sure if I went there I would get my throat ripped out by Sabrina"

Rose laughed. Soon her, Juleka and Nathanael were walking to the park.

Lila sat down on a seat in the library. They were sitting way down the back of the library so they could have privacy and peace while they wrote their script.

Sabrina sat beside Lila and quickly reached into her bag taking out a purple notebook. She started to talk excitedly

"So I was thinking of some ideas and other stuff we could and I wrote up some examples. I was thinking you could be the bad friend and I could be the friend who is fed up with the other"

Sabrina looked up and was met with a scowl from Lila.

"Uh do you not like the idea I can change if-"

"No the idea is fine it's just the fact you were quite rude to Nathanael," Lila said.

"Oh, I didn't mean to sound rude" Sabrina lied.

Lila continued on "Well you did and there was no problem with Nathanael coming with us, he's usually quiet anyway he would have just sat and drew something in his sketchbook"

"You're right, I'm sorry I'll be more considerate," Sabrina said, though she didn't seem to bothered "Now back to our Script"

Lila nodded deciding to let it go this once.

Nathanael, Juleka and Rose had arrived at the park and Juleka and Rose sat down at a bench while Nathanael sat down on the grassy lawn. He got out his sketchbook and sat quietly as Rose and Juleka chatted away.

It was exactly like the days before the group had befriended Lila. Nathanael flipped through his sketchbook and came to many drawings of Lila. He sighed. He missed her.

He felt silly for missing her when she hadn't even left him alone that long ago but still Nathanael decided he would go and find her. He didn't really care about Sabrina and her rude attitude.

He closed the sketchbook and stood up. Rose and Juleka looked at him.

"Where are you going?" Rose asked.

"Uh I forgot something back at the school" Nathanael lied.

"Oh okay, see you later," Rose said.

Juleka gave him a smile of encouragement knowing that he wasn't exactly telling the truth.

Nathanael walked off back to the school.

"So what do you think?" Sabrina asked as Lila handed the finished script back to the girl.

"Yeah, it's really good, I hope you don't mind the line I changed up a little" Lila said

"No, It's good, I'm glad we're working together, we'll have the best performance," Sabrina said happily.

Lila laughed "Yeah"

Nathanael walked down the school corridor and came to the library door, he slowly pushed it open and came into the Library he looked around the library and finally spotted Lila sitting down in a corner with Sabina. She was laughing at something Sabrina had said.

Nathanael sighed. She looked so happy he didn't want to interrupt them. He turned to go.

Lila looked up and saw Nathanael who was leaving the library with a sad look on his face.

' _I never noticed Nath was here, wonder why he's leaving?'_

Lila stood up to go after the boy. When Sabrina stopped her.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To get Nath, he just left without saying anything," Lila said pointing to the door.

"If he wanted to see you he would have come over," Sabrina said "So just forget it and sit down" she demanded a frown gracing her usually delicate features.

Lila looked at her with a mixture of confusion and anger. "Nathanael is my friend and he looked upset about something so I'm going to see him, I don't care if that annoys you!" she said, grabbing her bag and storming out of the library leaving behind a shocked Sabrina.

Lila left the library and looked about the corridor with her keen green eyes in search of Nathanael. She finally spotted a flash of red hair turning around a corner.

' _That's the direction to the Art room so that must be Nathanael'_ Lila thought as she rushed to catch up with the boy.

She turned the corner and finally saw it was Nathanael ahead of her.

"Nathanael" she shouted to catch his attention.

Nathanael paused and looked over his shoulder his wide eyes conveying his surprise.

"L-Lila what are you doing here?" He asked as she walked up to him.

"I saw you leaving the library, you looked sad," Lila said.

"No, I'm fine" Nathanael lied "You should head back to Sabrina…I wouldn't want to keep you from your best friend" Nathanael was surprised to hear the sharpness in his voice he hadn't mean to sound so mean but it appeared he couldn't help his feelings being obvious.

Lila raised an eyebrow also sensing his negative feelings. "Nathanael, you are okay, right?"

Nathanael said nothing instead he looked at the walls avoiding Lila's suspicious gaze.

"If something is annoying you then you can tell me," Lila said.

"Nothing is annoying me!" Nathanael said his eye's flashing with annoyance. He didn't want to admit he was feeling pushed out and possibly a little jealous.

' _Lila was allowed to have more friends after all but I feel like she's forgetting about me'_

He sighed "I have Art to finish for the final exam," he said turning and walking away. He was surprised when Lila fell into step beside him.

"I'll come with you then," she said.

Nathanael stopped and glared at the girl "No, you don't need to"

Lila smirked "I know I don't, I want to"

"Sorry, but I don't need any distractions," Nathanael said as he walked off leaving Lila behind in shock at his uncharacteristic rude behaviour.

Her shock soon turned to annoyance and then to anger "Fine, be that way!" she shouted after him.

She turned around quickly her hair flying over her shoulder before finally settling gently as she quickly walked back to the library. Anger radiating from her.

Nathanael felt awful. He couldn't concentrate on his art after the way he had behaved to Lila. He had taken his annoyance and anger at Sabrina out on Lila and now he was sure she would never want to be friends with him again.

Lila collapsed into the chair beside Sabrina, a scowl on her face.

"Lila you're back, Thank goodness," Sabrina said a happy grin on her face. She had been afraid she had lost her chance of having a nice friend but it appeared not.

Then Sabrina noticed the angry glare that was in Lila's eyes, she looked like she wanted to kill someone. Sabrina gulped.

"Um, Lila is everything okay?" Sabrina asked cautiously.

"No, it appears that nobody is nice even the ones you think are nice!"

Sabrina was confused "What?" she asked.

Lila looked at her it seemed the anger was slowly disappearing "Nathanael he's being unusually rude" Lila looked at the table with a thoughtful expression.

Sabrina felt a wide grin spread across her face. If Nathanael and Lila were fighting then that meant she would get Lila all to herself that way she was sure to get a great best friend.

Lila looked back up and Sabrina quickly replaced her grin with a look of empathy.

"I'm sorry to hear that" she lied "At least you know what he's really like now, it saves you getting hurt in the future"

Lila shook her head "But he's not usually like that I know for certain he's usually really kind and sweet and thoughtful…" she trailed off realising she was going on a bit. She blushed hoping Sabrina hadn't caught on about her crush on Nathanael.

"Um what I mean is that it's unlike him to be so rude…he's been acting strange ever since…ever since we were paired together for drama!" Lila exclaimed.

Then she blushed and looked at the ground when the other people looked at her somewhat annoyed she was being so loud while they were trying to read or complete work.

"You don't honestly believe Nathanael is being rude because you're spending time with me instead of him, do you?" Sabrina asked.

Lila sighed "I don't know, he's kind of sensitive"

"Sensitive" Sabrina said with a laugh "More like childish!"

Lila glared at the girl, sure she was still kind of angry at the red-haired artist but that didn't give Sabrina to be rude about him.

"Sabrina, don't be mean," Lila said.

Sabrina looked at Lila with wide eyes "But you're annoyed with him"

"Just because I'm annoyed with him doesn't mean you have to be rude," Lila said.

Before an argument could happen between them, Lila decided to end the conversation.

"So how about we head to class…the bell will soon anyway"

Sabrina nodded.

Lila and Sabrina stood up and headed for the door. Sabrina linked her arm through Lila's as they walked to class. This surprised Lila but she said nothing and just smiled.

"You don't to worry about Nathanael, if you wanted to I can sit with you so he doesn't annoy you," Sabrina asked with a smile.

Lila smiled "Thanks but I'm not that annoyed I would make him sit beside Chloe…no offence"

"None taken," Sabrina said.

Sabrina's teal eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to think of a way to make sure Nathanael didn't sit beside Lila. She needed to make sure Lila became **her** best friend.

Nathanael already had loads of other friends while Sabrina had none except Chloe so she didn't feel guilty about stirring up a fight. Nathanael had Rose, Juleka and Ivan as friends. Sabrina gasped to herself as an idea came to her mind.

"Lila, I know you said no the different seating arrangement but Ivan has an empty space beside him so can't Nathanael sit there?"

"Sabrina I appreciate that you mean well but really there's no need for anyone to move," Lila said as they approached the classroom they were in next.

"Oh okay," Sabrina said with a sad sigh.

Lila walked into the classroom and then gasped.

"What's wrong?" Sabrina asked.

"I forgot the script in the library! I'll go get it!" Lila said removing her arm from its link with Sabrina.

"Oh I'll come with you," Sabrina said.

"No its okay," Lila said already rushing out of the classroom to get the forgotten script.

Sabrina watched her run off. She looked up to the seat Lila and then at the seat she usually sat at with Chloe.

' _Well, Chloe's off for the rest of the day she said she wasn't coming back after that traumatising time with Miss Taylor shouting at her'_ Sabrina rolled her eyes at the words Chloe had used for getting a telling off.

' _I can sit beside Lila just this once if Nathanael complains well…he can just find a new seat after all he's being rude to Lila!'_ Sabrina thought as she walked up the small steps to the desk Lila sat at.

She placed her bag on the desk and slid into the seat Nathanael normally sat at. That was when Nathanael walked in. He saw Sabrina sitting in his seat and a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"Why are you sitting there?" he asked.

"This is my seat now," Sabrina said with a sweet smile.

"No it's not, where's Lila?" Nathanael glanced around the room hoping to see Lila.

"She had to go somewhere not that it's any of your business," Sabrina said with folded arms.

Nathanael sighed "Fine, when she gets back you'll have to move"

"No, I won't!" Sabrina exclaimed "Lila isn't friends with you anymore, she doesn't want a loser like you near her" Sabrina lied.

"W-what, Lila would never say that," Nathanael said, his eyes clouded over and hurt could be heard in his voice.

"She did!" Sabrina lied a grin on her face. "So I suggest you don't even talk to her"

Lila walked back to the classroom the script in her hand. She hoped Nathanael came early so she had a chance to sort out his weird behaviour. She was reaching the classroom when she heard Sabrina talking to someone.

She reached the door and stopped when she heard what Sabrina was saying.

" _She doesn't want a loser like you near her"_

Lila wondered who Sabrina was talking to and who it was about when she heard the next voice and gasped quietly. It was Nathanael!

Fury built inside her as she heard the lies Sabrina was coming up. Really, she had given Sabrina a chance and now she was telling awful lies.

' _At least when I told lies it wasn't to hurt anyone or to ruin friendships…I swear she's the same as that blonde brat…I understand why they were friends now'_

Lila stepped into the classroom just as Nathanael was saying something.

"So Lila said she doesn't want to talk to me?" he asked.

Sabrina, not noticing the brunette girl standing in the doorway with her hands on hips and a fiery anger in her eyes answered Nathanael with yet another lie.

"Yeah, she said that there was no way she would speak to a jerk like you"

Lila decided to finally speak up "Really, I don't actually remember saying that which is funny because I'm not usually forgetful"

Sabrina gasped fear appearing in her eyes "L-Lila I-I didn't See you t-there!" She laughed anxiously as she stood up.

"Obviously!" Lila spat.

Nathanael looked between Lila and Sabrina more confused than ever "What's going on?" he asked.

"I'll tell you what's going on!" Lila exclaimed walking up closer to Nathanael and Sabrina. All the while glaring at the frightened Sabrina.

"Sabrina here has been telling you lies! I never said any of that…I was annoyed with what you said but we're still friends so I would never say any of that hateful stuff!" Lila said.

Nathanael nodded and looked at Sabrina "Why did you lie?"

Sabrina looked down at her shoes, avoiding the intense glare of the Italian and the confused gaze of the artist.

Lila glared at the girl and repeated Nathanael's question. "Why did you lie Sabrina? C'mon tell us!"

Sabrina looked up with tear-filled eyes "I just had to, Okay!" she grabbed her bag and ran out of the classroom just as the bell went.

Lila sat down in her seat anger still in her eyes "Can't believe I offered to be her friend" she muttered.

Nathanael looked back in the direction Sabrina had ran away in and then back at the angry Italian.

He slid into his seat "do you think one of us should go after her?" he asked.

Lila let out an annoyed _"hmp"_

"Lila, she was crying," Nathanael said.

"Don't care, she was lying" Lila said.

Nathanael gave Lila a look.

Lila glared at him "Don't look at me like that, I didn't lie to hurt anybody!"

Nathanael nodded "true but still…" he trailed off.

"You can't honestly expect me to go find her she's…well she's… a friendship pirate!" Lila finally settled on a term for Sabrina.

Nathanael laughed "Friendship pirate" he repeated.

"It's not funny…I can't believe your acting so calm about her telling you lies"

"I'm just glad they are lies…I was worried you actually were angry with me…I am sorry for how I acted" Nathanael said with a sheepish smile.

Lila smiled gently "It appears I can never be angry too long at you…after all you're too cute to be angry at"

Nathanael blushed and looked down at the desk.

Lila giggled at his reaction.

Nathanael glanced back up at her "So you going to go find Sabrina?"

Lila sighed "I suppose I should before Miss comes to class" she stood up and went rushing down and out the door and passed Rose and Juleka. Who looked surprised as she nearly crashed into them.

"Sorry" she called over her shoulder continuing to run on in search of Sabrina.

Rose and Juleka walked in and looked up at Nathanael "What's Lila's rush?"

Nathanael smirked "it's a long story"

Lila walked the hallways and when she saw no search of Sabrina. She sighed.

' _Where could she be?'_ she thought then as she was walking back to class her eye fell on the girl's toilets. She hadn't checked in there yet.

She pushed open the door and walked in. she heard sniffles coming from the last toilet on the row.

"Sabrina" she called out. The sniffles and sound of crying stopped.

"I know you're in there please come out"

"What so you can shout at me some more?" Sabrina asked.

"No, I promise I won't," Lila said.

Sabrina said nothing and made no sign of coming out.

Lila sighed "Sabrina, I just want to know why you lied can you at least tell me that?"

"I don't know…I felt threatened" Sabrina answered.

"Of Nathanael?"

"Yeah, you two are so close…you guys aren't dating are you?"

Lila felt her face heat up and was glad Sabrina was behind the toilet door so she couldn't see her blush.

"No! Of course not" she laughed anxiously "just friends"

"Oh…" Sabrina said. Then Lila heard her turn the lock in the door and she came out of the stall.

She wiped her tear stained face and looked down at the ground in shame "I'm sorry about lying…it' just you're the first one who's offered to be my friend and I didn't want to lose your friendship"

"Seriously, I was the first?" Lila asked.

"Well Marinette was kind of a friend but she kept avoiding me and then she acted just like Chloe…she doesn't even speak to me much anymore!" Sabrina said.

"Okay," Lila nodded "So you thought ruining my friendship with Nathanael would make us Best friends?"

Sabrina looked at her with guilty eyes "I didn't really think, I just thought if you didn't have Nathanael as a friend you'd become my best friend"

"Sabrina, you can have more than one friend, you know," Lila said. "I suppose I can forgive you this once if you promise never to lie or start fights between me and my friends again"

Sabrina looked at her in surprise her eyes brightening "Really?"

Lila smiled "Yes, I can't fully hate you for lying…I do kind of have a history of it"

Sabrina gasped and ran to hug Lila. "Thanks, Lila!"

Lila laughed "So are you ready to go back to class"

Sabrina nodded.

They began to walk out of the toilets and to class.

"Hey, Lila," Sabrina said as she walked beside the Italian girl.

"Yeah" Lila answered.

"Can I sit beside you?" Sabrina asked with a grin.

Lila glanced at her with a warning glare "Don't push it"

Sabrina laughed.

* * *

 **Yay! I'm finally posting and you can expect the next chapter Wednesday or Thursday and I'm most excited for that...you'll see why! hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	11. Cupids Arrow II

Lila walked out of the school building warm sunlight bathing down on her and making her smile.

The warmth of the sun reminded her of being in Genoa and on the beach with her cousins and friends as they messed around building sandcastles, splashing through the ocean waves or just simply sitting on the sand chatting.

Despite the fact she had got used to Paris life she still missed Genoa-home- dearly.

"Lila?" a voice said cutting into her thoughts and washing away her memories of home.

She turned to the person with blinking eyes "What?"

"I said, see you tomorrow" Sabrina laughed.

"Oh right, bye," Lila said.

"Bye, Lila oh and Nathanael," Sabrina said with a wave as she ran down the steps and to the waiting police car. Her father was collecting her.

"So that was an eventful day…at least everything's cleared up now," Nathanael said standing beside Lila, hands in his pockets.

Lila nodded with a smile. Then she glanced at Nathanael her smile fading.

"Now you!" she said

Nathanael gulped wondering what had made her mad.

"You have to promise me not to hide your feelings anymore!"

Nathanael glared, the usual stubbornness taking him over.

"Nath, I mean it, if you feel sad or angry you need to tell me," Lila said, hands on her hips. "I think it's only fair after all I've kept my promise of no lies"

Nathanael sighed "fine, I won't hide my feelings anymore, I promise"

Lila smiled and nodded in satisfaction. Then she grabbed his hand and with sparkling eyes said "Now it's time for an adventure!" before he could protest Lila was pulling him down the steps.

Nathanael nearly tripped she was going that fast. They were on the pathway when Nathanael finally spoke.

"W-where are we going?" he asked as he ran behind Lila.

Lila suddenly stopped making Nathanael bump into her back. He took a step back with blinking eyes.

Lila turned around to look at Nathanael with a grin "I don't know" he said.

"How can you have an adventure if you don't know where you're going?"

Lila shook her head, her long brown locks falling gently around her like Nathanael had asked the most foolish question she had ever heard.

"Oh, tomato, you still have so much to learn"

Nathanael raised an eyebrow "What?"

"Part of the adventure is finding out where you're going, you have to follow your instincts-Your heart!"

"I don't know…knowing you it'll be risky" Nathanael said.

Lila rolled her eyes "That's the whole point"

Soon she had grabbed his hand again and was pulling him along the Parisian streets.

Zigzagging through the people walking along the pathway, in search of adventure."

* * *

"So where is this adventure?" Nathanael asked.

Nathanael and Lila were strolling through a park hand in hand.

Lila pouted "No idea...Italy had far much more adventure than Paris!"

Nathanael chuckled "that's probably because you grew up there"

Lila nodded "Yeah" then she spotted an ice cream cart and her eyes widened. she turned to Nathanael with a grin "Let's get some ice cream!"

Before Nathanael could respond Lila was running towards the ice cream cart pulling Nathanael along with her.

"L-Lila wait!" Nathanael said as he stumbled keeping up with her.

Lila slowed down a little and gave Nathanael an apologetic smile "Sorry"

Nathanael smiled in thanks when she slowed down.

They soon reached the ice cream cart that belonged to André, who was famous for his delicious ice creams.

He smiled when he saw them approaching "Ah how nice to see such a young couple in love!"

Both Lila and Nathanael's faces flared into mad blushes.

"W-what N-No we... I'm not...i mean..." Nathanael rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to stutter out an answer.

Lila began to anxiously ramble "Nathanael is just my friend...I mean I wouldn't mind...ah I mean..."

André saw what was happening and smiled "It's okay I understand"

They both stopped their rambling and looked at André with wide eyes. Blushes were still obvious on their faces.

"Now I suppose you want some ice cream, yes?"

Both teens nodded, smiles appearing on their faces.

"Great I got the perfect combination for you two," André said, a bright grin appearing on his face.

He began to perfectly scoop out three different scoops of ice cream placing them in the chocolate wafer striped cone.

"For the pretty miss," he said handing Lila an ice cream that was first topped with a blue ice cream-blue moon, in the middle was a scoop of red strawberry ice cream and at the bottom was a scoop of purple blueberry ice cream.

"Thank you," Lila said as she accepted the ice cream with a smile.

Then he made an ice cream of green tea ice cream at the top, the middle was a scoop of chocolate ice cream and the bottom was a scoop of orange ice cream "and this is for you young man" André said handing over to Nathanael.

"Thank you, Monsieur," Nathanael said as he accepted the ice cream.

"Here I'll pay," Lila said reaching into her bag with her free hand to grab her purse.

Nathanael glared at her "No way, you always pay! I'm paying this time!"

Lila smiled "Okay, you can pay" she could sense Nathanael was in a stubborn mood.

André smiled and glanced at Lila "He is quite the gentleman"

Lila giggled "Yes he is"

Nathanael rolled his eyes at their teasing and took out some money and paid for both their ice creams.

"Nathy, how about we sit over there to eat our ice creams," Lila said pointing towards a bench shaded a little by the branches of a sycamore tree.

Nathanael nodded as he took the spoon in his cream and used it to scoop up a little bite the green tea ice cream.

They both thanked André again before walking off to enjoy their ice creams while sitting down.

André smiled as he watched them walk off "My Ice cream has always made hearts come together...but I wonder if they will ever realise it?"

Lila sat down on the bench alongside Nathanael.

"This ice cream is actually really delicious," Lila said using the spoon to scoop up a bite.

Nathanael grinned "even better than the ones you got in Italy"

Lila rolled her eyes knowing he was teasing "Yes" she answered.

"That's good at least we French are successful at one thing" Nathanael smirked as he continued to tease.

"Yes, at least you are successful at doing one thing better than Italians, it would have been so embarrassing for you if we beat you at everything," Lila said with a smirk before taking another scoop of ice cream to eat.

Nathanael laughed.

"you want a taste of my ice cream?" Lila asked.

Nathanael looked at her "Um if you're okay with that"

Lila laughed "Of course you dork" she took out the second spoon that was on the other side of her cream. she scooped a gentle scoop of blue ice cream and then grinned at Nathanael.

"Wait are you going to feed me?" Nathanael asked a light blush appearing on his face

Lila gently nodded "Of course," she said as she held the spoon out for Nath to take some ice cream.

Nathanael blushed but finally let Lila fed him the ice cream.

"That actually tastes nice," he said.

Lila smiled "Here take some more" she took another scoop of her ice cream using the spoon.

Nathanael felt heat appear back on his face in the form of a blush but he nodded anyway "Okay"

Lila smirked as she held the spoon out to feed him again. he moved to take a bite but then Lila spread the ice cream on his nose with a laugh.

"Lila!" he complained, but he grinned showing he wasn't that annoyed.

He wiped the Ice cream off his nose as Lila continued to laugh.

After they had finally finished their Ice Creams Lila looked up at the sky with a thoughtful "it will be sunset soon"

Nathanael glanced at her before looking at the sky "Yeah it will"

Lila grinned and stood up with a determined glint in her eyes

" _Now is time for a_ _ **real**_ _adventure"_ she declared.

"and what does a real adventure entail?" Nathanael asked.

Lila looked at him with bright eyes and mischevious smile "That's what you're going to find out"

she grabbed his hand and pulled him from the bench and soon they were running off again.

* * *

"Lila, this is crazy!" Nathanael hissed as his eyes darted around keeping a search for people that might pass by. He was sure they were doomed for trouble.

"I know!" Lila laughed, her green eyes danced with excitement. "Aha, got it," she said as the lock on the door finally became unlocked.

"Where did you even learn to pick locks?" Nathanael asked in a loud whisper.

Lila shrugged "an old friend taught me" she shoved open the door and turned to Nathanael with an excited grin. "Now c'mon we don't have all day"

Nathanael sighed before reluctantly following her inside.

 _The reason they were going inside the building was that they had been passing it when Lila had decided she wanted to see the sunset from the building's roof. Lila had tried to find a way up on the outside but it, unfortunately, appeared to them that the only way up was by going through the actual building._

 _Nathanael had tried to warn Lila off breaking in but Lila, being Lila, didn't listen to reason._

 _So that was how Nathanael and Lila came to be trespassing someone's building._

Lila ran up the stairs of the building giggling to herself. Nathanael followed close behind, he was nervous to find anything about this situation funny.

After what felt like forever! There had been a lot of stairs. They finally arrived at a metal door leading to the roof.

Lila tried to push it open, it didn't open. She tried to shove it open using the side of her body as a stronger force, it still didn't open.

Lila let out an irritated sigh. The door was stuck and obviously hadn't been used in a long time.

"Maybe we should just forget about it" Nathanael said, wanting to get out of the old building before he was carted off to prison.

"No, we've got this far," Lila said. She took a few steps back and gently pushed Nathanael out of the way.

Before he could ask what she was doing Lila went running at the door and kicked it.

It flew open and crashed against the brick wall outside with a **Bang!**

Lila laughed happily as she ran out onto the roof.

Nathanael cautiously followed her out. Not straying too far from the doorway.

He found himself smiling as he watched Lila be her usual silly self. His nerves slowly faded away.

Lila performed a graceful twirl her hair flying around her. She stopped with her back turned to Nathanael as she looked up at the sky with a giggle.

Lila Rossi stood before him, hands on her hips as she looked at the view of the Parisian sky in flame with the vibrant sunset as it streaked the sky with oranges and golds. She finally turned to him, absolutely beaming.

"Look at this amazing view, tomato and to think we almost missed cause you wanted to chicken out!" she teased. His heart stopped in his chest.

Nathanael wasn't sure what it was that made him finally realise. If it was the way the sky shone behind her creating a glimmering halo, framing her and her beauty or maybe it was the way she smiled at him with sparkling eyes lighting up his whole world. But right then, his heart swelled and he realized… he was in love with Lila Rossi.

Nathanael gasped to himself as he realised. His cheeks colouring red. He had no idea how he had missed the fact he was in love with his best friend.

Sure, he always knew she was beautiful it would take a fool not to notice that but he supposed he liked her for more than her liked her because she was confident. She was easy going and fun. She showed many times how passionate she could get about things or people she cared about and in the rare moments, she finally decided to show her softer side she was kind, compassionate and generous. Nathanael even realised he even liked some of her qualities that others might not like such as her bluntness or recklessness.

While Nathanael was thinking all of this and trying to calm his beating heart. He kept sneaking glances at Lila as she watched the sun began its descent, turning the sky a beautiful display of coral and pink. It was a simply beautiful sight that would attract anyone's attention but the beautiful sight that Nathanael was more focused on was Lila.

He wished he could freeze time right at that moment. He wanted to capture it forever so he could treasure this memory forever. He knew he was going to get straight to painting this when he got home.

"It's beautiful right?" Lila asked, staring at the sky with wonder.

"Yeah," Nathanael said all the while staring at Lila.

Lila finally turned back to him and caught him staring. Nathanael quickly looked away and up to the sky, as his cheeks darkened red. He didn't catch the light blush appearing on Lila's face or the small smile.

"So shall we head back down?" she asked.

"Uh y-yeah," Nathanael said.

They walked back through the door which after some pulling Lila finally closed, Nathanael had offered to help but Lila was too determined to do it herself so she refused his help.

They began walking back down the stairs in a much slower and much quieter way than they had gone up them.

Nathanael was freaking out. He had no idea what to do or say around Lila now. He knew he couldn't confess though, last time he had told a girl he liked her, though he never planned it, he had got akumatised. So there was no way he was risking it.

' _I know I promised Lila not to hide my feelings from her anymore but she meant feelings of sadness, frustration or anger. Not feelings like…love, right?'_ Nathanael thought as he walked behind the Italian girl reaching the end of the stairs.

They walked out of the old building and came out into the evening air. Birds flew way above in the air chirping to each other as they made their way home to their cosy nests.

Lila gave a sigh before turning to Nathanael "Okay, Nathy. I'll see you tomorrow!" she said before turning and walking off in the direction of home.

Nathanael looked up at the darkening sky, the first few stars trying to peek their way through the Paris sky, and smiled.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow" he called after her. Then he set off home as well.

* * *

Nathanael arrived at the door of his apartment and fished the keys out a pocket inside his blazer. He opened the door and went inside dumping his bag near the door and putting the keys down on the sideboard.

He walked into the kitchen in search of food, one thing to know about Nathanael is that he is always hungry and if you offer him food he will gladly accept as long as it doesn't have mushrooms on it as he hates mushrooms.

He once ate two burgers and a whole large pizza all by himself. This had worried Lila and also made her jealous as he never got fat, yet she had to watch what she ate.

Nathanael's head was full of thoughts swirling around his head. He knew he needed to calm himself down.

' _I need to paint'_ he thought as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, slamming the fridge door closed and rushing to his room forgetting all about his quest to find food.

Nathanael got out an A4 page, he cleared his desk of the books, sketchbooks, random pages and pens that were littered over it. Finally placing the page on the cleared desk.

He opened a drawer and brought out his set of acrylic paints. He took a paintbrush and gently dipped it into the pink paint he had created by mixing red and white together.

He made the first delicate stroke across the white paper and then he let his feelings out as they turned to colours across the paper. By the time he was finished his page was stroked with a mixture of golds, yellows, oranges and pinks that combined together to create a glorious sunset.

He carefully added a figure in the middle so the sunset framed around them like a halo. The figure slowly turned into Lila as Nathanael used a smaller paintbrush to add in the details.

Nathanael finally set his paintbrush down and looked at his work. For once he was actually proud of his work of art. His feelings for the girl shone clearly from it, anyone could pick up he had feelings that were more than friendship for the Italian.

He sighed. There was no way he could show anyone especially Lila this artwork. Even though he was proud of it he couldn't let anyone see it unless he wanted to confess his crush on Lila.

He sighed yet again and flopped down on the top of his grey covers on his bed.

' _How am I going to go to school tomorrow and act like we're just friends…I can hardly talk to people I like…she's sure to notice and then she'll reject me and she'll avoid me forever!'_

Before Nathanael could continue with his inner turmoil his bedroom door creaked open.

"Nathanael, I was going to order some food in so what do you want?" His mother asked.

Nathanael quickly sat up from lying on the bed and shouted "Get out!" he leapt out of the bed hoping she wouldn't see the painting.

"Wh-what, why?" his mother said. When she saw the painting and a huge smirk spread across her face.

"Ohh~ what's this?" she giggled.

Nathanael went red in the face "get out, get out, Get Out!" he shouted pushing his mother out the door.

She laughed "Fine, I'll leave you with your paintings" she winked.

"You're so annoying!" Nathanael whined, his face getting hotter. He was about to slam the door in her face when his mum stopped him "Wait you didn't tell what you wanted to eat"

"I don't know…" Nathanael said, glaring at his mother.

His mother smirked, "How about Italian?"

Nathanael glared at her as his face turned red "Leave!" he hissed, slamming the door in her face.

He could hear his mother's laugh outside his door and as she went down the stairs. He glared at the ground.

' _Great, this is just what I need…she's never going to shut up now!"_ Nathanael thought as he fell down on the bed face first.

"My life is over" he muttered.


	12. Protect the tomato

Rose Lavilliant was on a mission. She was going to set Lila up with Nathanael if it was the last thing she did.

It was a pity that she couldn't tell anyone after Lila had begged her not to say anything. She had kept trying to hint at Juleka but her girlfriend was not picking up on the hints.

Rose sighed and squeezed a heart-shaped pink pillow that she was holding. She picked up her phone from her bedside table scrolling through her contacts she came to Lila's and hovered about to press it when she let out another sigh and forgot about.

Life was hard for a matchmaker. Especially when everyone expected her to be positive all the time well everyone except one person. She scrolled up a little bit and came to Juleka's contact.

She pressed on it and it and wrote out a quick message.

 _Flowerchild:_ _I'm sad._ She added a sad face emoji and sent the text.

Juleka as always replied quickly to texts especially if they were from Rose.

 _Mirrorwitch: Why?_

 _Flowerchild: I need to tell you in person. Let's meet in the park before heading to school._

 _Mirrorwitch: Okay._

Rose smiled her plan had been a success! Lila had said she couldn't tell Juleka until the girl had asked Rose specifically and now she had-technically.

Rose jumped off the bed letting the pillow fall on the pink bed covers which were also covered with hearts. She grabbed a pink bag with wings attached to it from the white hanger that was attached to the back of her door.

She put her phone in a small pocket inside it. A set of hot pink earphones were already inside the pocket. Her tablet and some notebooks and a fluffy pink pencil case for school were also already inside the bag. She put it on her shoulders and headed out.

She walked down the stairs. She looked into the living room and saw her baby brother, Ethan was sitting on the floor watching cartoons. She smiled and walked to say goodbye to her little brother before heading out to school.

Ethan saw Rose come in and his brown eyes widened happily. "Ro-ro!" he giggled happily while clapping his hands.

Rose giggled and bent down to ruffled his blonde curls "I'm going off to school now but I'll be back later"

Ethan pouted "No playtime?"

Rose shook her head "not right now"

Her Mother walked in just as Rose was standing up to leave. She was a small woman and had the same blonde hair and kind blue eyes as her daughter.

"You heading off to school now?" her mum asked.

"I'm meeting Juleka in the park first but then yes I am," Rose said.

"Okay have fun, sweetie" Her mother smiled.

Rose smiled and gave her mom a quick hug and ruffled her little brother's curls one last time before heading off to school.

"Bye-bye"

She heard her little brother call after her before she opened the front door and headed off down the grey stone steps.

Rose reached the park and saw Juleka was sitting on the bench already waiting for her.

Rose ran up to her a happy smile on her face. Juleka saw her and smirked.

"You don't look that sad," she said as Rose approached.

"That's because I saw you, you always make me happy!" Rose smiled.

Juleka blushed "Same to you"

Rose sat down on the bench beside Juleka. "Now I have to tell you something and you're not allowed tell anybody especially not Nathanael"

Juleka raised a thin dark eyebrow "Okay" she said slowly.

"Lila likes Nathanael!" Rose grinned.

"How do you know this?" Juleka asked.

Rose giggled "She told me, of course"

Juleka gave Rose an unbelieving look "Rose, I hope you didn't make her tell you I told you not to play matchmaker"

Rose pouted "I didn't force her to tell me, she told me on her own decision"

Juleka nodded "Okay, I believe you…but why are you telling me?"

"So you can help me set them up, of course!"

Juleka folded her arms "No, no, No! There is no way I'm helping set them up" she shook her head, her black and purple hair falling around her shoulders "Leave them alone if they're meant to be together then I'm sure it'll happen"

Rose glared "Jules, If I leave them to get together all on their own it'll never happen!" Rose leaned back and looked up at the branches of the tree that hung overhead that let through filters of morning sunlight.

"Lila seems to be forcing herself to forget her crush like it never existed and Nathanael…I don't even know what his feelings for Lila are!" she looked at Juleka "So I need you ask Nathanael or at least try to find out his feelings"

Juleka sighed "Fine I suppose I can try and find out…I'm not going to annoy him though!"

Rose smiled "Thanks, Juleka"

"We should head to school now," Juleka said. She stood up and lifted her black backpack with a design of bat wings and ears attached to it from the ground putting it over her shoulders.

Rose stood up and grabbed Juleka's hand. She smiled up at the blushing girl.

"You're the best," Rose said before standing on her tiptoes and pressing a gentle kiss against Juleka's soft lips.

Juleka blushed harder and Rose giggled a small blush on her face. "And people think I'm the cute one"

Juleka rolled her eyes and they headed off to school, hand in hand.

* * *

Lila arrived at the school in the car after thanking Charles she got out of the car and walked up the steps where she met Nathanael.

"Hey Nathanael"

Nathanael looked at the ground as a blush developed "H-hi"

Lila looked at him with concern "you okay, Nath?"

He nodded his face turning redder "Yeah, I'm fine…just great"

Lila raised an eyebrow "Okay, it's just you look like your burning up"

Nathanael looked up at her his ocean eyes widening "oh um"

Lila reached and pressed her hand gently against his forehead. Nathanael quickly stepped back and Lila swore she heard him squeak.

"L-lets just g-go inside!" Nathanael said as he furiously blushed and turned to walk inside.

Lila followed feeling confused about Nathanael's strange behaviour.

They reached the lockers and Nathanael told Lila to go up to the classroom as he had to leave some stuff in his locker.

After some more questioning whether he was feeling okay and Nathanael insisting he was fine. Lila walked to the classroom alone.

Concerned thoughts about Nathanael floated through her mind.

* * *

She walked into the classroom and was greeted with insults from Chloe of course.

"Oh look Lila the liar has no loser friend with her today, how sad!"

Lila rolled her eyes and loudly muttered "Get some better insults, I'm sure you can buy some with your fathers corrupted money" as she walked past.

She saw Sabrina secretly snigger as Chloe glared after the Italian.

She reached her seat and took her bag off her shoulder putting it on the table before sitting down on her seat.

Then the door opened again and Nathanael made his way into the classroom his eyes focused on the sketchbook in his hands.

Lila watched with narrowed eyes as Chloe nudged Sabrina with a smirk before sticking her foot out.

Nathanael not noticing too engrossed in whatever he was sketching, tripped over Chloe's foot, his sketchbook falling out of his hands and sliding across the floor as he fell to the floor. Luckily he put his hands out in time so he didn't hit his face against the floor.

Chloe let out a laugh "You should watch where you walk Klutzberg, instead of doing stupid scribbles"

Sabrina let out a fake weak giggle but her eyes filled with sadness, she didn't like Chloe constantly being a bully but she was too afraid to stand up to her.

Lila, on the other hand, was not too afraid. She got up from her seat and marched down to help Nathanael.

She held a hand out to Nathanael with a gentle smile. Nathanael accepted it with a blush and she helped pull him up while saying to Chloe.

"You know Chloe you should go pick on something more your size, like a cow perhaps?"

Gasps could be heard from around the room.

Chloe glared at Lila and stood up, probably to seem taller and more threatening, but Lila was already taller than the girl so it didn't threaten her.

"Are you trying to call me a cow, Liar" she hissed.

Lila smirked "Of course not, that would be offensive to the cow"

Alix and Kim started sniggering which made Chloe blush in embarrassment she didn't like being made fun of.

Lila continued even though Nathanael tugged her jacket and whispered "That's enough, leave it now"

"If anything I would rather have a cow for a classmate than you, it's sure to offer much more intelligent answers than you ever would"

Chloe growled "yeah, well at least I'm not desperate for friends.., nobody wants to be your friend so you have to settle for that loser!" she pointed to Nathanael

Lila laughed "Really that's what you think! First of all, Nathanael is not a loser you appear to have got confused as it's actually you who is the loser" then Lila glanced around the classroom "And no friends you say well I'm sure I have more than you"

Lila smiled as she shouted out "Raise your hand if you consider Chloe a friend"

Nobody raised their hands. Chloe gasped and then glared at Sabrina who slowly and unwillingly raised her hand.

"So that's one for Chloe!" Lila laughed.

Chloe gritted her teeth in annoyance "Let's see how well you do!"

"Raise your hand if you consider Lila the Liar a friend," Chloe said with a smirk, putting her hands on her hips confident nobody except Nathanael would put their hand up.

But all of the class put their hands up even Sabrina even though Chloe had glared and hissed at her to put it down.

Lila smiled and put her hands on her heart "I'm honoured guys" Lila said before wiping away fake tears.

The class laughed. Nathanael rolled his eyes and nudged her "Quit the dramatics"

Lila laughed.

Then Miss Bustier walked in "What's everyone milling around for?" she glanced at the students "Is something going on?"

"No, everything is fine Miss Bustier," Sabrina said, loudly not wanting anyone to get in trouble.

"Well get into your seats, we have a lesson to start"

The class quickly rushed to their seats. Nathanael went and grabbed his sketchbook from the floor before rushing after Lila up to their seats.

Miss Bustier went to her desk and looked at the class "So does anyone want to confess they didn't do the homework before we start"

Alix, Kim and Marinette's hands went up. The class were used to Alix and Kim handing in homework late but Marinette usually handed it in on time,

Miss Bustier looked at Marinette in surprise. "Marinette, why have you not done it?"

Marinette blushed and looked down at her lap. She hadn't been able to complete due to the fact Hawkmoth had been on an Akuma spree lately it seemed he was becoming more desperate the more time ticked by and he hadn't got the ladybug and cat miraculous. She couldn't say this of course without revealing her superhero identity.

"I just forgot about it" Marinette lied.

Miss Bustier sighed "Okay seeing as this is unlike you, you can hand it in tomorrow"

"Thank you Miss Bustier," Marinette said.

Then she turned to look at Alix and Kim with a glare "And this is the fifth time you two haven't done the homework"

"It was Kim's fault" Alix complained.

"It was your idea to do the dare" Kim complained.

"I don't care about any dares!" Miss Bustier shouted "You two will stay after school and finish the homework"

Alix and Kim let out sighs and slumped in their seats.

"Now let's get on with the class" Miss Bustier said.

* * *

Chloe still wanted to get back at the Italian for embarrassing her in class. She couldn't see any way to fault her except for lying but she didn't seem annoyed with that one anymore.

She saw Nathanael sitting in the locker area, probably waiting for Lila and Chloe grinned maliciously.

' _Maybe I can't get at the Liar directly but I can always get at her through the art freak'_

Chloe strolled up and stood over the red-haired boy.

He glanced up and saw it was Chloe and let out a sigh "What do you want?" he looked back down at the sketchbook.

Chloe looked at her nails "Just wondering what you are drawing"

"I thought they were just stupid scribbles," Nathanael said in a monotone voice not looking up.

Before Chloe could answer a voice interrupted "What's going on?"

Nathanael looked up and saw Lila. Relief washed over his face.

Chloe looked around and smirked when she saw Lila.

"Nathanael was just going to show me his art, that isn't a problem is it?"

Lila glared and walked over so she was closer to Nathanael "it doesn't seem like he wants to show you, just leave Chloe"

Nathanael stood up and was about to walk off with Lila when Chloe reached and grabbed his sketchbook out of his grasp.

"Give that back!" he said, trying to reach and grab it.

Chloe sidestepped out of the way and flicked through the pages with a laugh.

Lila glared "Chloe, stop being hateful give the book back!"

Chloe didn't listen instead bringing out an inky black pen from her pocket and she scribbled something on some of the pages.

Nathanael gasped "stop that!"

Lila snatched the book out of Chloe's grasp and looked at the pages.

"How could you? Do you have no heart?" She pushed the book against Nathanael's chest and he took it.

He looked at the pages off all his hard work and saw the word loser scribbled in big capitals across the pages, tears formed in his eyes.

"Oh look the loser is going to cry! I should have written cry-baby instead!" she cackled

Lila growled. Her hands balling into fists.

Nathanael saw that if he didn't calm her down soon then she would get in serious trouble for whatever she was about to do. He didn't calm her down too upset over his ruined pages of art.

Suddenly Lila's fist connected with Chloe's face. Nathanael gasped.

Chloe stumbled back clutching her face. She removed her hand and saw the blood which was trickling from her nose and down over her lips.

She looked up at Lila with teary eyes. "You Bitch!" she screamed.

"You'll never be allowed back to Paris! My daddy will make sure of that!" she cried turning on her heel and running away.

"Yeah, just go and cry to your daddy, you brat!" Lila shouted after her.

"You do realise what you've done" Nathanael whispered with wide eyes.

Lila looked at him with a grin "yeah, I finally taught that brat a lesson"

Nathanael went pale and grabbed Lila by the shoulders "No, No you have to leave, you have to flee the country…"

Lila raised an eyebrow in confusion at Nathanael's panicked rambling. He let go of her and started pacing back and forth.

"She'll have you killed, it's not safe for you here…"

"Nathanael!" Lila said cutting into his anxious thoughts.

He looked at her with wide eyes finally stopping his pacing.

"It'll be totally fine, I just hit her I've done much worse to others, believe me, and I'm still alive today" She smirked

"Lila, there you are"

Lila turned to see Miss Bustier looking at her with a disapproving glare "You are to report to Mr Damocles office right now"

"You're dead!" Nathanael exclaimed.

* * *

Nathanael paced outside Mr Damocles office. Lila was currently in there with a distressed, if a little exaggerated, Chloe.

"Nathanael, what are you doing?"

Nathanael stopped pacing and looked to see Rose and Juleka looking at him with concern.

"Lila is in there and she's probably going to get expelled from school and…and banished from Paris and I'll never be able to see her again!" Nathanael exclaimed.

Rose gasped "Whatever happened?"

"She punched Chloe…it's all my fault I should have stopped her but I was too upset over my ruined artwork…She was only trying to defend me" Nathanael sighed.

Rose came up and gave him a quick hug "Don't worry, Nathanael she'll be fine"

Juleka gave a rueful smile "Yeah, I'm sure she won't be expelled or even banished even Mr Damocles knows Chloe isn't a total angel"

"I hope you two are right," Nathanael said.

* * *

Lila stood in Mr Damocles rolling her eyes at Chloe's really pathetic acting skills.

' _Honestly, if I actually could stand her I'd offer some acting tips'_

Chloe wiped a tear away as she exclaimed: "I was only trying to talk to Nathanael and she had to come in like some jealous…"

"Oh mio Dio, lei è davvero oltre lo stupido" Lila muttered.

Mr Damocles shot her a warning glare.

She folded her arms and glared at the ground.

Chloe continued on with her lies and terrible acting "I honestly did nothing to Lila yet she has this hatred for me…maybe she's jealous of me and honestly, I wouldn't blame her"

Lila felt her temper rising but she took a few deep breaths. It wouldn't do her any good to get angry right now.

"Miss Bourgeois that's enough now let's give Miss Rossi time to explain her side of the story," Mr Damocles said.

Chloe huffed and glared at the Italian "I don't know why we should it's just going to be lies"

Lila ignored her and started explaining what happened "Mr Damocles, I did hit Chloe I'm not going to deny it or even feel sorry for doing it, she deserved it after the hateful bullying!"

"Bullying?" Mr Damocles said.

"She's lying!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Miss Bourgeois, please be quiet" Mr Damocles ordered. He motioned for Lila to continue.

"Yes, she never stops saying unnecessary remarks about me and my friend, Nathanael and then she went too far!" Lila glared at the blonde "she ruined Nathanael's artwork, he had worked so hard on all those amazing pieces and then she just came along and scribbled all over them! How childish and jealous can she get?" Lila's anger raised as she clutched her hands into tight fists.

"Miss Rossi, that will do, please try to calm down we do not need any um any more incidents," Mr Damocles said anxiously

Lila took a few deep breaths to calm herself down she did have a trouble with controlling her anger. She had always hated that she had the same temper as her Father.

"After hearing your two stories I have decided that I will let Miss Rossi off with a warning as it seems she was provoked"

Chloe gasped "What! You can't honestly let this…this criminal"

Lila rolled her eyes and scoffed at that.

"Just walk free without any punishment, she hit me!" Chloe pointed to her face which was starting to bruise a bluish-purple,

Mr Damocles eyes widened as they darted between Lila and Chloe, both had fiery glares on their faces "Well um"

"If you don't punish her I will just have to call my father to complain about this act of injustice, who knows maybe he'll be so angry he will remove the money he so generously gave to the school" Chloe reached into her bag to take out her phone a smirk appearing on her face.

Lila looked between Chloe and Mr Damocles worry growing in her eyes and was obvious on her face.

"Wait! There's no need to call your father I will, of course, make sure Miss Rossi faces punishment for her um actions" Mr Damocles said.

Chloe returned her phone to her bag and shot Lila a vicious smirk.

"But this totally unfair! She should be punished! She's the bully!" Lila exclaimed pointing at Chloe.

"Enough Miss Rossi I have decided and your punishments are that you are to report to after school detention with Miss Bustier and you must clear out the theatre store tomorrow I heard Miss Taylor complaining it needs to be cleaned out"

Lila gasped.

"You both may leave"

Chloe sauntered out of the room with a smug smile and Lila followed behind glaring at the girl.

Nathanael looked up expectantly when the two girls came out and sighed when he saw an angry expression gracing Lila's face.

Once the door to Mr Damocles office was shut Chloe let out a cackle "Hope you enjoy detention, Liar" then she walked away.

"Detention?" Nathanael said.

Lila sadly nodded "He was going to let me off with a warning but then she threatened to call her father"

Nathanael sighed and raked a hand through his red hair "I knew this would happen…I'm sorry Lila I should have stopped you"

"It's not your fault, Nathy…I should learn to control my temper myself it isn't your job to make me control it"

There was a moment of silence.

"Um Rose and Juleka stopped by they were going to wait for you to come out but they had to go hand in homework"

Lila nodded "That was nice of them"

"Let's go to next class," Nathanael said.

Lila nodded "Yeah and then I have to go to stupid detention"

They walked off to class sadly.

* * *

Lila reached the doorway to the classroom that detention was being held and sighed.

' _This is going to be so boring…hopefully, Mia hasn't informed my father about detention'_ Lila thought as she finally pushed open the door.

She opened it and saw that Alix, Kim were already in the classroom.

"Lila, what are you doing here?" Alix asked a bright smile appearing on her face.

Lila smirked "I punched Chloe"

Kim and Aix started laughing.

"No way, you lying," Kim said

Lila shook her head "Nope, you can go see the bruise appearing on her face if you need proof"

Lila walked in and sat at a desk two from the back behind Alix and Kim.

Alix turned around to talk to her "I'm glad you're here, I thought I was going to have to endure listening to him all alone" she nodded her head towards Kim.

Kim glared "Like listening to your stupid comments is any better"

Lila glanced at them with tired eyes. She honestly was too fed up to listen to them bicker all through detention.

She turned her head to stare forlornly out the window, the noise of Kim and Alix arguing tuning into background noise. It was raining outside and Lila observed the raindrops slowly run down the window.

She didn't notice or hear the door opening and didn't notice when the person who had come in walked up and sat down in the seat beside her.

"Hey"

Lila's eyes widened when she turned towards the voice and saw who it was.

"Nathanael?" she said. "Why did you come?"

Nathanael made no reply and pulled out his sketchbook from his bag opening it up and twirled a pencil in his fingers.

Then he looked at Lila with a smirk before focusing his eyes on his sketchbook as he began to draw.

Lila raised an eyebrow confused that he wasn't answering. She glanced back out the window before looking back at Nathanael

"It's sweet of you to come here, Nathy but you didn't have to come just for me"

"I'm not here just for you! I'm here to draw people in states of distress" Nathanael said, holding up his sketchbook showing a quick pencil sketch of Lila looking out the window not looking very happy with her situation.

Lila glared at the red-haired artist "I hate you" she hissed

Nathanael laughed.

Then the door opened and Miss Bustier walked in.

"Sorry I'm late I had to finish-" she stopped when she saw Nathanael. Her eyebrows knitted together "Nathanael what are you doing here? I don't remember your name being down for detention"

"He's here to sketch people in distress" Lila responded

Nathanael nodded as he continued to draw in his sketchbook.

Miss Bustier raised an eyebrow at hearing this "Um Okay, I suppose you can stay"

"Miss would you do me a favour and just let me leave," Kim said

"Kim, you ask me this every time and I will say to you the same as I always do, No!" Miss Bustier said, folding her arms.

Kim sighed and sank lower into his seat.

Alix sniggered.

"Now let me hand out some sheets so you three can do some extra work" Miss Bustier said a slight smirk on her face.

"Seriamente questo è così ingiusto" Lila muttered.

Miss Bustier handed out some English papers to Alix, Kim and Lila.

Lila stared down at the English paper with a glare.

' _Chloe should be doing extra work, not me!'_ Lila thought with an annoyed sigh.

Nathanael glanced at her "You want me to help you with it?" he asked.

"No, I'm not doing it" Lila responded. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

Nathanael shrugged his shoulders "Okay"

Then the classroom phone in the storeroom rang. Miss Bustier stood up from her seat at the desk and went to answer it.

Lila watched as she spoke into the phone and then a look of annoyance flashed across Miss Bustier's face. She put the phone back in the stand hanging on the wall and looked at the four teens.

"I need to go and sort out some problem, I trust I can leave you four alone for a while?"

They all nodded and with that Miss Bustier walked out of the room. Lila waited a few seconds before standing up and declaring.

"I'm escaping this hell hole and if you want to as well then this is your only and last chance to say so"

Alix and Kim looked at her. Nathanael continued drawing unbothered by her announcement.

"How exactly do you plan to leave without getting in more trouble?" Alix asked.

"Yeah, Miss Bustier will come back and see you're gone then you'll just have more detentions to go to" Kim said.

Lila put her hands on her hips and shook her head "I'm hurt you have so little faith in me"

Alix and Kim glanced at each other not fully trusting that Lila had a proper plan.

"So what is your plan?" Nathanael asked.

"I can't say it in front of Alix and Kim in case they snitch," Lila said sitting back down on her seat.

"I ain't no snitch!" Alix and Kim exclaimed at the same time, glaring at Lila.

Lila sighed "Fine here's the plan…"

Miss Bustier walked into the room and was greeted by Kim and Alix standing at the front of the classroom arguing with each other.

"What happened while I was gone?" Miss Bustier asked Glancing at Lila.

"The usual" Lila said.

Miss Bustier sighed and went to stop the fight between the two rivals before someone got hurt. While she was distracted this gave Nathanael, who had of course been dragged into the escape mission time to sneak out the door.

Lila smirked as she watched him sneak out. Her plan was going perfectly so far.

Nathanael walked down the corridor and looked about for the fire bell. _'I really should pay more attention during fire safety drills maybe then I would know where it's located'_ he thought.

Then finally he spotted the red box attached to the wall. He nodded and went over. He didn't feel bad about setting it off as not many people were in the school. He pushed the lever before pulling it down.

And then the alarms went off. A siren wailing electronically along the corridors, leaping out from the corners, echoing everywhere. Overhead, a light began to flash red.

Nathanael turned and began to sprint back to the classroom hoping Miss Bustier wouldn't catch on it was him who had set off the fire alarm.

Kim and Alix instantly stopped arguing the minute the fire alarm began to blare. They grinned mischievously at each other.

Lila kept a straight face even though she was smirking inside. "Miss Bustier, I think that's the fire alarm"

Miss Bustier nodded "Yes it is, we better get going…wait a minute where is Nathanael?"

"He went to the toilet" Lila lied.

Then Nathanael came rushing back into the classroom. Breathing heavy as he wasn't used to the exercise.

"Oh, there you are Nathanael" Miss Bustier said over the noise of the alarm. "Now that everyone is here we may leave, calmly!"

Kim and Alix didn't listen to the calmly part as they rushed out the door trying to race each other to the school entrance.

Miss Bustier shook her head as she speed walked to catch up with two reckless teens.

Lila and Nathanael followed behind at a slower pace. Lila glanced at Nathanael with a smirk. "Looks like you're officially a rebel," she said quietly so Miss Bustier didn't overhear.

Nathanael looked at her with a confused look "What?" he couldn't hear her over the sirens.

Lila sighed and shook her head "I'll tell you outside" she shouted.

Nathanael heard her this time and nodded.

They arrived outside and Nathanael glanced at Lila "So what were you saying?"

"I said that it looks like you're officially a rebel now"

Nathanael laughed "Oh right"

Alix came skating over "Hey, Lila!"

Lila looked at Alix with a grin "Yes?"

"Your plan actually worked but um don't you think we should all get out of here before Miss Bustier gets the fire department and we get in serious trouble" Alix said with a smirk before spinning around on her rollerblades and quickly running away.

Lila and Nathanael's eyes widened as they realised that they hadn't thought that far. Lila grabbed Nathanael's hand.

"Let's get going!" she exclaimed.

Soon she was running with Nathanael close behind her.

Lila pulled Nathanael into an alleyway and they leaned against the wall catching their breath.

Lila managed to catch her breath quicker than Nathanael, being more physically fit than him.

She glanced at Nathanael whose face was flushed from the running. She smirked causing him to look at her with a glare.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Lila laughed "Nothing"

"It's obviously something," Nathanael said

"It's just I'd never expected you to put with all these dares and escapades," Lila said

Nathanael rolled his eyes "It's either I join in or you do something even crazier and end up dead"

Lila laughed "It could be that or maybe you secretly like the rebellious side of life"

"Whatever," Nathanael said a blush appearing on his face as he stood up straight "Now we better leave"

Lila nodded "Okay, I better get home before Mia has a panic attack"

They walked out of the alleyway and went in the direction of their homes.

* * *

 **Can I just say a huge thank you to all those commenting on this fanfic I love getting your reviews and it really helps motivate me to keep writing more! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**


	13. Red String

Lila sat down on the bench beside Nathanael and Juleka. It was Lunchtime and some other students were sitting around or standing as they talked in the groups. Others were walking quickly out of the building in a rush to go get food.

Lila rubbed her eyes and complained "This has got to be the most boring day ever! I nearly fell asleep in Maths"

Juleka laughed "Nathanael actually did fall asleep"

Lila looked at Nathanael grin "That's just typical of you!"

"I didn't mean to!" He said.

"Then Mrs Martin accidentally scared him awake, it was so funny" Juleka smiled.

Lila pouted "I wish I was in your Maths class!"

"You really don't" Nathanael muttered.

Juleka rolled her eyes "Nathanael struggles with Maths unlike you, Lila"

"I'm not a math's genius…I'm just average," Lila said.

"You're in the top Maths class with Sabrina and Max so yeah you're a genius compared to me," Nathanael said.

Lila laughed.

"I suppose I better go and tidy out that drama store, Miss Taylor is expecting me"

Juleka's eyes widened as she asked: "Why do you have to clean the store out?"

"It's part of my punishment for standing up to a bully!" Lila said in a sour voice.

"Oh right well then, Good Luck" Juleka smiled.

Lila smiled as she stood up "Thanks hopefully I won't need it though"

"I can come and help!" Nathanael exclaimed, a red blush appearing on his face.

Lila looked at him with concern but smiled "No it's okay you helped enough yesterday…I'll be fine" she walked off to the drama classroom.

Nathanael watched her walked off and sighed before putting his face in his hands.

"You okay, Nathanael?" Juleka asked.

Nathanael rubbed his hands down his face and shook his head "No"

Juleka quirked an eyebrow "why not?"

Nathanael sighed again "um…it's nothing, forget I said anything"

Juleka lips formed a tight line as she gave Nathanael a suspicious look "Is it something to do with Lila?"

Nathanael's eyes widened as deep red blush once again appeared on his face "W-what N-No!" he laughed anxiously "Why w-would Lila have S-something t-to do w-with it!" he stuttered.

Juleka gave him an unimpressed look causing Nathanael to sigh and glare at the ground "Fine, maybe she actually does have something to do with it"

"I knew it, so come on what's wrong?" Juleka asked.

Nathanael glanced around and saw the locker area and the hallways were practically empty, there were a few other students still hanging around but they were too engrossed in their own conversations or frantically finishing up homework for their next class. Nobody would hear him.

"I don't know how it took me so long to realise but…um…I have a crush on Lila" he whispered.

Juleka nodded "I knew it!"

He looked at her shocked "What? How? Am I that obvious?" he asked in a panic.

Juleka shook her head with a laugh "No, no you do not, don't worry"

Nathanael gave a sigh of relief.

"It's just us two have been friends for a long time and I can tell when somethings up," Juleka said.

Nathanael nodded.

"So what are you going to do?" Juleka asked

Nathanael leaned back in the bench and stared way up at the ceiling "I have no idea…" he looked back down, straight ahead of him "Lila's my best friend and it feels weird for me to feel this way…I don't want to ruin our friendship"

Juleka offered a rueful smile "I understand"

He looked at her "You do?"

Juleka nodded "Yes, me and Rose were just best friends before we started dating, remember" she blushed "I started crushing on Rose and I felt so annoyed with myself that I was feeling this way when we were just friends…I thought I would ruin our friendship if I told her, after all, I felt certain Rose wouldn't ever consider dating me. So I kept it to myself but it kept getting harder every day to keep my feelings a secret so I finally told her and…" she trailed off.

"What happened?" Nathanael asked.

He had actually never asked or found out how Rose and Juleka had got together all he knew was one day Rose had come into class holding hands with Juleka and happily told Nathanael that her and Juleka were now dating, Juleka had been a blushing mess.

Nathanael had been very happy for his two closest friends though sometimes he had felt awkward being the third wheel. So it had been a good thing when he had become friends with Lila.

"Oh well Rose wasn't sure what she felt" Juleka gave a laugh "She had never actually thought about crushing on anyone she was too busy thinking about people in class that would make cute couples"

Nathanael grinned "sounds like Rose"

Juleka nodded before continuing "So I told it was okay if she didn't feel the same, that she could forget about what I said but she wasn't having it, saying that I'm always there for her so she wanted to think about it for a while. Then the next day she asked if I wanted to go on a date and that's it we just started dating"

Nathanael smiled "still things worked out in the end for you two"

"Exactly, I'm sure things could work out for you and Lila too" Juleka put on a knowing smile "who knows maybe she feels the same for you"

Nathanael shook his head gently "I don't think so" then he looked a Juleka with a hard stare "you better not tell Lila about my feelings, promise"

"Of course I won't, that's a promise" Juleka smiled "But Nath it won't do you any good keeping them a secret it'll just make things harder, take it from me"

"I know, but there's no way I could tell her so let's just leave it at that, I don't feel like talking about this anymore," Nathanael said, a sad expression on his face.

"Of course, I'm sorry if I seemed bossy or pushy," Juleka said.

* * *

Lila wiped her forehead with the back of her hand after she finally placed another tidy box of costumes on top of the two she had already tidied.

She looked at the rest of the messy store and sighed. _'I know Miss Taylor is a laid-back teacher but seriously would it have killed to keep this place a little organised I'll be here all day by the looks of it'_ Lila thought as her brows furrowed in a glare of annoyance.

Then there was a knock on the storeroom door, Lila turned and saw Rose standing there with a kind smile "Hey, Lila"

"Oh, Hello Rose what are you doing here?" Lila asked.

"Miss Taylor saw me and suggested that I should come and help you, so here I am," Rose said.

Lila smiled "Usually I would be stubborn and reject help but…" she glanced around the cluttered store with keen green eyes "I actually really need the help so Thank you"

"No problem" Rose smiled. She walked in and her eyes darted over the mess of the store.

Boxes filled with props, costumes and microphones were piled up haphazardly in stacks, ready to fall in an avalanche at any given moment. Some costumes had just been flung into the store and were lying in corners of the store gathering up dust and cobwebs. There was also some old painted sceneries that had been pushed up against the wall, Lila wondered if Nathanael had helped paint any of them.

"This store really hasn't had a good clean out since who knows when…but it'll be fine, together we'll have it cleaned in no time!" Rose said positively.

"I'm glad one of us is positive," Lila said with a rueful smile.

"So what will I start with?" Rose asked.

"Do you mind touching cobwebs?" Lila asked.

Rose shrugged "Don't think I do"

Lila gave a relieved sigh "Great, I hate touching them so can you pick up all the clothes lying on the floor for me to sort"

"Of course!" Rose said as she began to walk over and pick up the costumes, shaking them free of dust and cobwebs before neatly piling them up for Lila.

Lila began the dangerous job of getting boxes down from the pile to check if anything in the boxes needs to be thrown out or if the box was a disorganised mess.

As Rose kneeled on the floor folding costumes she started to talk "So how have things been between you and Nathanael?"

Lila stood on her tiptoes and grabbed a box. The pile wobbled but she put out a hand to steady one of the boxes which fortunately stopped the pile from toppling.

She took the box down to the ground and finally answered Rose's question "the same as we always are, why?" she looked at Rose with a suspicious glare "You haven't told him, have you?"

"Of course, I don't break promises!" Rose pouted.

Lila nodded "I know you don't and thanks" she opened the box and sneezed when a cloud of dust billowed out of it.

"Bless you," Rose said with a smile.

"Thanks," Lila said. She looked down into the box and sighed when she saw it was full of old scripts and posters covered in a layer of dust.

"You have an idea if Miss Taylor wants to keep the scripts and posters of old shows or not?" Lila asked.

Rose shrugged "No idea, just put it to the side and ask her when she comes back from her lunch break"

Lila nodded and picked up the box and walked to the door and left it at the side of it.

"Lila, are you ever going to tell Nath about your feelings?" Rose asked.

Lila sighed "I told you, there's no point I'm not going to risk our friendship over my feelings"

Rose pouted "but what if he felt the same!"

Lila began carefully down another box "He doesn't unless…he hasn't said anything has he?" she looked around with bright eyes holding the box in her arms.

Rose shook her head "No he hasn't"

Lila sighed a sad expression appearing on her face. She shook her head and fixed a small smile on her face "Not that it matters of course, I'm fine with us just being friends"

A look of concern furrowed Rose's thin eyebrows as she looked at Lila. "You shouldn't lie to yourself, Lila…it obviously upsets you!"

Lila put the box down and opened it to examine the contents inside "I'm not, I said I'm fine and it's the truth" she muttered as she looked into the box to avoid Rose's concerned gaze.

Rose sighed as she carefully picked up the pile of neatly folded costumes and stood up "Maybe Nathanael feels the same for you…I asked Juleka to try and find out so-"

"You did what!" Lila shouted she looked up at Rose with a furious glare.

Rose gulped and looked down at the costumes in her arms "I thought you wouldn't mind…I'm only trying to help" she said quietly.

Lila groaned and covered her face with her hands "This is awful" she muttered.

"No, it isn't!" Rose chirped with a smile.

Lila removed her hands away from her face and glared at the petite girl "How is the fact that you asked Juleka to ask Nathanael a weird question that will lead to him suspecting my feeling for him and then when he finds out I like him as more than a friend he'll probably freak and there goes our friendship!"

Rose giggled "Your such a drama queen…and a bit of an over-thinker" she placed the costumes on top of the box Lila had left by the door so they could be put away somewhere later "Juleka's not going to straight out ask him she's just going to get him to tell her himself, if you understand he won't have a clue you like him, okay"

Lila whined "fine, he better not find out or else I won't be friends with you two anymore"

"But Lila then you'll have no friends," Rose said.

"Get to tidying!" Lila grumbled.

Rose giggled and went to find a box to put the costumes in to.

* * *

Nathanael was walking back to school with Juleka. They had waited for Rose but after she hadn't turned up they had decided they would just go on and hopefully Rose would find them in her own time.

"Nath, I know you don't want to talk about your feelings for Lila" Juleka began "But I think you should take a chance"

Nathanael looked down at the pavement and kicked a loose stone "Take a chance" he repeated "No, it's not worth the risk"

"Why not?" Juleka asked her attention shifting to two girls that seemed to be shouting stuff at each other. Another girl with short brown hair and glasses watched with an expression that seemed to be a mixture of annoyance and sadness. She refocused back on Nathanael as he began to talk.

"Everyone thought Lila was some awful person just because she lied but she's not if they actually had got to know her- the real her before instantly judging they would have found what an amazing person and friend she is" Nathanael blushed "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think ruining our friendship isn't worth it, I would feel selfish making Lila feel awkward in our friendship when I know she really needs my support against people who still don't trust her"

Juleka nodded as they approached the school building "I understand and don't worry I'm not going to convince you to do anything you don't want to"

Nathanael smiled "Thank's Juleka"

"Now how about we head to science," Juleka said stepping up the steps, Nathanael a step behind her.

* * *

Lila and Rose walked into science feeling tired after cleaning out that store. Miss Taylor had come back and had been very thankful that they had done such a good job and then when she saw the time she had been shocked and frantically told the girls to go get something to eat before next class started.

The girls had raced out of the storeroom and down the hallway and went to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery to quickly get food.

Lila sat down beside Nathanael and collapsed her head on the desk.

"You okay?" Nathanael asked.

"Tired" Lila answered.

Nathanael nodded "Oh okay, was the store really that bad"

"Let's just say we're lucky to come out alive," Lila said dramatically.

Nathanael laughed and rolled his eyes.

As the class began Lila placed her head in her hands. soon her eyes were drifting closed as the teacher's chatter turned into mumbling.

* * *

Lila's eyes drifted open when she felt someone shaking her and calling her name.

"Lila, Wake up!"

She opened her eyes and slowly the blurriness faded away and she saw it was Nathanael who had woken her up.

"Class is over," he said when he saw she was awake.

Lila sat up feeling stiff. She rubbed her eyes.

"I thought I was the one who fell asleep in class" Nathanael smirked "Cleaning out that store must have been tough work"

"It was…and I'm still tired" Lila complained.

"It's a good thing then that you can go home now," Nathanael said picking up his satchel and walking down to the classroom door.

Lila stood up, grabbed her bag and rushed after the boy.

* * *

Juleka walked with her Girlfriend, Rose down the path away from school.

Rose looked up at her with an excited grin "So did you ask?"

"Ask who, what?" Juleka asked, playing oblivious.

"Nathanael!" Rose exclaimed, "Did you find if he likes Lila?"

"Might have" Juleka answered, not wanting to fully lie to her girlfriend.

Rose pouted "Just tell me!"

"Can't" Juleka said as she looked away and pretended to be interested in the passing cars.

"Why not? I told you about Lila!" Rose complained.

"I'm sure she didn't want you to!" Juleka retorted.

A look of guilt crossed over Rose's face before she smiled again "Still it's only fair you tell me!"

Juleka sighed "Fine but Lila isn't to know, okay"

Rose nodded "Okay"

"Good because Nath said he didn't want me telling her anything…I shouldn't even be telling you but…" she trailed off with a sigh.

"Just tell me does he like her or Not!" Rose exclaimed.

Juleka rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's impatience "He likes her"

Rose gasped and clasped her hands together "Really? Like more than friends," she looked at Juleka with sparkling eyes.

"Yes," Juleka laughed.

"This is so exciting…I just need to get them together and then I'll help them plan their wedding oh do you think Lila would make me maid of honour, I would love to be maid of honour-"

"Rose!" Juleka shouted cutting into Rose's rambling.

Rose looked at Juleka in shock "What?" she asked quietly.

"Nathanael doesn't want anyone interfering and that includes you!" Juleka said.

Rose pouted "But they'll never get together if I don't help!"

"Maybe they won't or maybe they, will," Juleka said, "just leave them, Rose you wouldn't want to accidentally ruin things now would you?"

Rose sighed and nodded "Fine, but if they start getting annoying I'm interfering!"

"Okay, that's fine...now how about we head to my house" Juleka smiled.

"Ohh has your mum made Raspberry Clafoutis?" Rose asked.

Juleka smiled "it's your lucky day because she has"

Rose gasped and grabbed Juleka's "What we waiting for!" she began to run pulling Juleka with her.

* * *

 **This is gonna be the last chapter you get for a while because my computer decided to become possessed and basically delete all my fanfiction I had written up including chapter notes, the only reason this one is okay was because I had it already saved in the document manager on this site. So now I'm really annoyed and upset now...**

 **still, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	14. Party Crasher

Lila's eyes drifted open as tiny rays of weak morning sunlight crept through the window and fell on the bed covers and her face.

Lila sighed a little, turning over in her bed to look at the alarm clock. She saw that she had woken up early today, there was still a few hours left until she really had to get up.

She gave another sigh wondering if she should get up or just burrow back underneath the warmth of the covers. Finally, she kicked the blankets off with all the grace of a new-born foal.

She stumbled off the bed in an unladylike manner, wearing an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

' _Mother would have a heart attack if she saw me now'_ Lila thought _'Good thing she never really does'_ Her eyes laced with bitterness.

She shook her head to get rid of those negative thoughts and stretched to loosen her tight muscles.

She walked over to her large bedroom window and plopped herself down on the window seat. She put her feet up as she leaned against the wall, grabbing a circular orange cushion she hugged it to her chest. From her window, she could see many of the buildings of Paris.

She remembered the last time she had just sat and stared out the window. Back then she had thought her new life in Paris was doomed to be a life of loneliness and misery just because she told a few lies and got akumatised.

A small smile appeared on Lila's face _'But I'm glad I was wrong...I'm glad that Nathanael is in my life'_ she felt a blush appearing. She quickly put her hands on either side of her face as she shook her head.

' _No, No!'_ she thought "Nathanael is just a friend, I only feel friendship for him!" she muttered.

She sighed. It was easy to lie to others but it was harder to lie to herself.

"I have to stop these feelings it'll only end up in one of us getting hurt…I don't want that" She said as she stood up from the window seat.

She went and got ready for the day ahead.

* * *

"Admit it Alix, no dare that you give me will I ever fail at!" Kim laughed.

Alix smirked, "Oh, yeah!"

"Yeah!" Kim said, grinning proudly.

Alix looked around the room and observed Adrien walking in with Nino and a mischievous grin spread across her face.

"Okay, I dare you to convince Adrien to throw a party at his house"

Kim raised an eyebrow "How is that in any way hard? but fine I accept"

Alix watched with a smirk as he walked over to Adrien and Nino.

"Hey, Alix what's the smirk about?" Lila asked. She had just arrived to class a few minutes ago. She had waited in the locker area for Nathanael but then she had got bored so she had walked on up to the form room.

"Oh hey, Lila didn't see you there," Alix said "And I'm smirking because I set Kim up for failure"

"How so?" Lila asked, looking over at Kim talking with Adrien.

"I dared him to convince Adrien to throw a party at his huge house but we all know Adrien would never do it in case his father disapproves"

"Why would his father disapprove of a party? My father wouldn't care but that's because he's hardly at the house" Lila said.

"I heard Gabriel is really strict on Adrien or at least Nino was complaining that Adrien never gets a break" Alix explained.

Lila nodded "I see"

Then Lila noticed Nathanael come into the classroom and go up towards the desk. She walked away from Alix and over to the red-haired artist.

"Hey," Lila said as she sat down beside him.

Nathanael smiled, a small blush on his face "Hey, so Um what's going on?"

Lila giggled "Nothing much but Alix dared Kim to try an' convince, Adrien, to throw a huge party"

Nathanael nodded "Oh right"

"You don't seem too interested," Lila said, a small grin appearing on her face.

Before Nathanael could respond a loud and annoyed " **What!** " brought everyone's attention to Alix as she glared up at a smirking Kim.

Kim laughed "That's right, I'm helping Adrien plan a party at his house and everyone's invited oh except you, Alix!"

Alix folded her arms as she made demon eyes at the tall Vietnamese "How'd you do it?" she looked at Adrien "is he forcing you? Blackmailing? If he his blink once, I'll save you"

Adrien laughed "No, it actually sounds fun and father told me I could have few friends over so he can't mind too much"

"Bro, I don't think he meant you can have a party with all of your classmates," Nino said, raising an eyebrow.

Adrien gave a sheepish grin "Well, Father is meant to be going to some fashion show thing this weekend so we could have it then"

Kim grinned and slung an arm around the blonde model "That sounds great we'll have it on Saturday"

"I suppose I can DJ for you" Nino grinned.

Kim looked at the furious Alix with a wide grin "See, I really can't fail"

"Eugh, you're so annoying!" Alix exclaimed as she stormed up to her desk.

Kim laughed.

"So Adrien is throwing a party" Lila muttered and then turning to look at Nathanael with a smile.

"Don't even think about it!" Nathanael said as he opened his sketchbook to start his usual day of sketching in class instead of paying attention to the lesson.

Lila pouted "I didn't say anything yet!"

"Yeah, but you're going to say _oh we should totally go!_ " Nathanael smirked as he imitated Lila.

Lila glared "I don't sound like that!"

"You do" Nathanael smirked.

"Anyway, I was actually going to say, that it would…be a great idea for us two to go to Adrien's party" Lila said

Nathanael laughed "That's basically the same as I said you were going to say"

"No, I used different words!" Lila smirked, "So are you going because I'm not going alone!"

Nathanael sighed "Parties aren't really my thing"

"Nathy!" Lila whined.

"Hang out with Rose or Juleka" Nathanael suggested.

Lila dramatically collapsed on the table, her head on its side as she looked at Nathanael with large sad eyes "Nooo!" she cried "It won't be fun if you don't come!"

Nathanael rolled his eyes "Stop being dramatic!"

"Not until you agree to come!" Lila whined.

Nathanael gave a loud sigh "Fine, but I'm not going to stay long"

"Yay!" Lila cheered, sitting back up straight in her seat.

The rest of the day passed in a boring blur and soon Lila was headed down the steps of the school on her way home, Nathanael walking beside her.

All of the class was excited for Adrien's party tomorrow. He had gone home at lunchtime and asked Natalie if it would be okay to have a _small_ party on Saturday after some convincing she had finally agreed as long as it didn't get too rowdy. He had come back to school excited to share the news. He was looking forward to getting to hang with friends on Saturday instead of doing photoshoot after photoshoot.

"Lila, Nath wait up!" a voice shouted behind them. They stopped and turned around to see Rose running up to them, Juleka a little bit behind her.

"What is it, Rose?" Lila asked.

"You two are both going to Adrien's party tomorrow, right?"

Nathanael nodded as Lila replied, "Of course, you and Juleka going as well?"

Rose nodded "Yeah, we can hang out!"

Juleka smiled and nodded her head.

"Great, see you tomorrow," Lila said as she turned and continued on her way down the steps.

"Bye," Nathanael said before turning and walking quickly after Lila.

Rose smiled and looked at Juleka "It's nice to hear Nath is going, he usually hides away at his apartment"

Juleka gave Rose a suspicious look "You're not fooling me"

"What?" Rose asked.

"Your planning something, I know you're matchmaking smile," Juleka said.

Rose gave Juleka an innocent smile "I haven't the faintest idea what you mean, my dear Juleka" then she skipped on down the steps.

Juleka shook her head and followed.

* * *

Saturday arrived and Lila was busy preparing her outfit her bed was a mess of clothes she had thrown on a pile.

She sighed as she glanced at the large pile of clothes and the clothes still left in her wardrobe "I have literally nothing to wear!" she complained.

Then her phone sitting on her desk buzzed notifying her of a message. She walked over and picked it up. After putting in her passcode she clicked on the message which was from Nathanael.

 _SuperNath: do I really have to go?_

Lila rolled her eyes as she typed out a reply message.

 _Rossifox: Yes!_

Nathanael quickly sent a reply back.

 _SuperNath: fine. It's just I'm not really a fan of parties but I'll go_

Lila bit her lip as she realised she hadn't really been taking Nathanael's feelings into consideration she knew he got easily anxious.

 _Rossifox: I know parties aren't your thing but please just come and if you don't like it you can leave at any moment I won't mind._

 _SuperNath: Okay that sounds better._

Lila smiled and put her phone back down on the desk and went back to the terrible task of choosing an outfit for the party.

A few hours later Lila was walking up the stairs to Nathanael's apartment. She had finally chosen an outfit that consisted of a red crop top, Black ripped jeans and red converse. On top of it, she had a light black jacket and her hair was up in a bun, with her sides still in bands.

She reached the apartment door and knocked. It was soon opened by Nathanael.

"Wow, you clean up nicely," She said with a smirk. She took in what Nathanael was wearing, black jeans and a light purple button-up shirt, He had left the top 2 buttons unbuttoned.

Nathanael's face turned red "T-thanks um you look r-really great as w-well Lila," He stuttered out. Lila giggled with a slight blush on her face.

"So you ready to go?" she asked.

Nathanael nodded and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"You never said you were coming to collect me," Nathanael said.

Lila smiled "I thought it would be easier for you to go into a large crowded area if I was already with you and it saves you having to search for me"

Nathanael nodded "Yeah, Thank you, Lila"

Lila looked at Nathanael with a gentle smile "It's no problem, Nathy"

Nathanael glanced at the Italian girl before looking away quickly when he felt his face heat up from a deep red blush.

' _Lila looks really pretty tonight, well she always looks pretty but she looks Really, Really pretty right now'_ Nathanael thought as he glanced at Lila as they walked along the pathway, the moon was coming out and the streetlights were on making Lila's green eyes sparkle. He quickly looked away again _'It's really quiet maybe I should say something…but what?'_ he panicked and suddenly he blurted out the first thing that came to mind

"S-so…You like ducks?"

' _Wait, why I said that! Out of anything! I'm such a loser!"_ Nathanael looked at the pathway as he cringed at his question. He wanted to disappear.

Lila looked at Nathanael strangely, with a raised eyebrow she answered "Um they're okay I guess"

"R-right" Nathanael responded quietly.

They continued their walk in somewhat awkward silence. Lila finally spoke up again it seemed she couldn't take the silence anymore

"So you have any plans for tomorrow?"

Nathanael glanced at her "Oh um No…Nothing planned, um do you?"

"No, just read a book or something" Lila replied.

And then once again their journey to Adrien's house was plunged into silence, except for the noise of traffic or other pedestrians.

Lila looked at Nathanael and wondered why he was acting so weird around her.

' _He doesn't know about my feelings, does he? Rose said she didn't tell but was she lying?'_

Then Nathanael glanced at Lila and their eyes locked, Forest green crashing with Ocean blue. They quickly looked away from each other Blushes blossoming over their faces.

' _Things are really awkward lately…maybe Lila's picking up on my feelings…Juleka was right things are just going to get more awkward maybe I should say something'_

Before Nathanael could even say a word. Lila exclaimed with a voice full of relief: "Ah! There's Adrien's house, we're nearly there"

Nathanael looked up and saw Adrien's house, Lights were flashing in it as streams of teens were rushing. His eyebrows furrowed in a confused glare "I thought it was just classmates?"

Lila nodded "So did I, oh well we're here now" she looked at Nathanael with grin "Let's go in"

Nathanael looked at the crowded House with loud music blaring. He felt nervous but nodded.

Lila noticed Nathanael's anxious face and she took his hand in her hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze "It'll be fine, Nathy I'm here for you!"

Nathanael looked at her with wide eyes as a blush appearing on his face, he smiled gently "Thanks"

They walked through the gates and up the steps to the door.

Lil pushed open the door. She and Nathanael stepped into the chaos that was meant to be a party.

They looked around with wide eyes as people they didn't even know and they were sure didn't go to their school were rushing about doing different things.

Nathanael nudged Lila and nodded his head in the direction of some boy who was currently throwing up in an expensive looking vase.

"Seems we're a little late…" Lila said.

"Lila, Nathanael you made it!"

They looked and saw Kim racing over to them.

"This is some party, huh" Lila smirked.

Kim grinned "it's wicked, I'm sure this party will be the best party anyone has ever gone to"

"I thought it was classmates only," Nathanael said, sidestepping as two boys who had started fighting nearly crashed into him.

A sheepish smile appeared on Kim's face "Oh well I told a few mates who aren't in our school and they must have told their mates and um basically the whole of the teenage population of Paris"

Lila laughed "it's okay I've been to crazier a party in Italy"

"Really?" Nathanael said, looking at her in shock.

"Uh yeah…my memory of some is hazy though" Lila laughed.

Then they heard a shout from another room "Put that down! Adrien get your friends out of here!"

Kim gasped and went rushing into the room. Lila followed a smirk on her face. Nathanael sighed before following after them and stepping around a heap of people and awkwardly looking away when he saw two people making out against the wall.

"C'mon Nath!" Lila said Grabbing his hand and pulling him into a room. Nathanael saw that the party was in full swing in this room.

Nino was up front spinning discs as music blasted out through large speakers. Many people were dancing and Nathanael saw that most of their classmates were in this room.

Lila went to follow Kim into a separate room but was stopped by a shout.

"Lila! Nath! You came!"

Rose came rushing up, dragging Juleka with her.

Lila smiled "Yeah and this party is crazy!"

"It was just meant to be classmates but then all these random girls and boys started pouring in, one of them tried to hit on Juleka!" Rose pouted.

Juleka laughed "It's okay, Rose he knows we're a couple now"

"Yeah, he was pretty rude about it!" Rose frowned.

"What? You need me to hit him, where is he!" Lila said, anger rising in her voice.

"No, its fine" Rose said.

Lila nodded. The turned to Nathanael with a grin "We're here now so we may as well party!"

Before Nathanael could protest Lila had grabbed his arm and was pulling him out to the dance floor.

Rose and Juleka laughed at Nathanael's shocked face. They followed them out.

"C'mon Nath, you have to dance!" Lila laughed.

Nathanael felt his face go red as he said "I don't really dance"

Lila pouted "Aw, why not?"

"I'm no good, I just can't!" Nathanael said.

"Stop worrying, it's not like anyone cares!" Lila laughed "take a look around you, no one is dancing seriously!"

Nathanael glanced around and saw she was right, seeing how everyone was either dancing offbeat or just plain out being silly.

"But if it bothers you that much, just copy me!" She said as she began to dance easy dances. He copied her and found it to indeed be easier than he thought it was.

"There you go, you got it!" She cheered.

Nathanael felt a smile reach his face as he laughed and became more confident.

Then the music was cut short and they all looked in surprise to see a figure standing angrily over the DJ booth.

They were clothed in a black jumpsuit over this was a long blood red cloak which swept the ground, the hood of the cloak was up and cast their face in shadow. Red ankle boots and lace black gloves completed the look. They clutched a Mace on a long chain.

"The party is over!" She hissed.

"Put the music back on!" A random boy shouted.

"There will be no music!" she shouted, "There will be annoying parties!"

"Is that Nathalie?" Juleka muttered.

"I think it might be" Lila answered.

"She must have been akumatised, we need to get out of here!" Rose exclaimed. She grabbed Juleka's hand and started to make her way through the crowd.

"We should go to!" Nathanael said as he made his way through the crowd.

Lila looked at the akumatised Nathalie and sighed. She started to make her way through the crowd of teenagers. It was hard as they pushed and shoved and she realised she was losing sight of Nathanael.

She pushed her way through the crowd and came into a clear patch. She wildly looked around "Nathanael?" she shouted.

Nathanael was nowhere in sight. She grew worried. What if he was hurt! She hated to admit it but they needed Ladybug's help, so where was she?!

"Hey, Party crasher, over here!" A heroic female voice called out, it was Ladybug. The crowd of teenagers cheered for Paris's hero in red.

"Out of my way, my quarrel isn't with you!"

"Oh you won't attack me but you will attack innocent civilians?!" Ladybug snapped back.

"A means to an end." Party crasher hissed out coldly as the ground began to shake.

Lila gasped as she felt the ground shake. _'I need to get out of here, or else I'm in real danger…I know for a fact Ladybug doesn't care about my safety'_

She wasn't allowed to think about the situation anymore because Party crasher tried to aim a sonic blast towards Ladybug who gracefully dodged it. However, the force from the scream managed to crash into the walls of the building causing it to crack as it spread causing chunks of debris to start falling down like hail.

"Lila, get down!" Before she could react she was tackled down to the ground pushed out of the way from the falling debris. It took a while for the dust to clear but once it was she was able to stare into the blue eyes of her saviour.

"N-Nathanael!"


	15. Unspoken feelings

Lila gazed with wide eyes at Nathanael as a deep red blush appeared on her face. Her heartbeat had speed up when he pressed himself closer to her.

Lila had no time to stay flustered as Nathanael quickly pushed himself up and looked at Lila with a concerned gaze.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?!"

Lila glanced away to hide her blushing face. She slowly shook her head "No, I'm fine"

Nathanael stood up and held out his hand for Lila to take hold of.

"That's good, I was really worried"

Lila took his hand and he helped her up.

"You were worried about me?" Lila said she looked at Nathanael with sparkling eyes.

A blush spread across Nathanael's face and he glanced away as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh Y-yeah of course"

Lila smiled as she looked at Nathanael amorously.

The moment between the two was broken when all the teens came running out, pushing and shoving to get away from the very angry and dangerous Akuma.

A random girl pushed into Nathanael causing him to trip. Lila quickly reached out and steadied him, holding onto his arms.

"We should probably get going before we really are trampled" Lila advised.

Nathanael nodded and they turned to leave when a voice cried out

"There you are!"

They looked to see Rose running up to them. Her pink skirt swaying and glittering in the light.

"Rose! Where's Juleka?" Lila asked.

"She's okay, but I had to come back to help you two!" Rose said. She grabbed Lila's hand and Nathanael's and dragged them on down the long grand corridor.

"Quick, hide in here!" Rose said as she pushed Lila and Nathanael into a small storage room.

"Whoa!" Lila cried as she stumbled into Nathanael. One of her hands on his chest, the other on his ribs. Her face heated up immediately.

Likewise, when he went to catch her, his hands landed on her hips, where her Jacket rose up, his hands feeling bare skin.

They looked at each other with wide eyes and blushes.

"S-sorry" Lila muttered as she as she tried to pull away but couldn't due to the size of the closet. _'I'm going to kill Rose!'_ she thought.

"I-It's okay, it's n-not your f-fault the p-party turned into a-an Akuma attack" Nathanael stuttered out as he removed his hands from her hips and put them at his sides.

Lila laughed anxiously "Uh yeah"

Nathanael glance around the walls of the room and asked: "So what are we meant to do while we wait?"

"No idea…probably just talk," Lila said.

"Right" Nathanael nodded.

Silence descended upon the duo. They resumed to looking around the small space they were confined in. They glanced at each other and hot blushes once again appeared on their faces. They quickly looked away from each other.

Lila sighed to herself _'This no good…he's sure to catch on about my feelings for him, I need to say something'_

"You probably hate me, huh?" Lila said.

"W-What?!" Nathanael exclaimed. Looking at Lila in surprise.

"Cause' I made you come to this party even though you didn't want to"

"No, it's not all bad I got to spend time with you…" Nathanael trailed off as he realised what he had said.

Lila blushed and looked at Nathanael with wide eyes "Spend time with me?" she repeated.

Nathanael blushed and looked at the ground "Uh I meant that um…you're such a great friend that it's um great to spend time with you"

"Oh," Lila said, she lowered her head as her face became downcast. _'Of course, he just meant as friends…I was kidding myself to get hopeful'_

Nathanael glanced at Lila and saw she was upset. _'Was it what I said? It couldn't have been'_

He sighed. _'Things are just getting more awkward maybe Juleka's right and I should just tell her the truth about my feelings'_

As Nathanael was contemplating whether to tell Lila about his crush or not Lila spoke up.

"I think we've been in here long enough should we go?" Lila moved to open the door when Nathanael stopped her grabbing he wrist.

She looked at him in surprise "Nathanael?"

"Sorry it's just um…" he looked at the ground shyly.

"Nathy, are you okay?" Lila asked with concern.

Nathanael blushed and finally looked up, letting go of her wrist "Y-yeah I just want to tell you something"

"Tell me what?" Lila asked, quirking her head to the side as she gazed at Nathanael.

"I wanted to tell you that um…t-that I-I um…" Nathanael started to stutter as nerves got to him.

He paused and took a breath to try and get rid of the nerves. _'I can do this…it'll be fine…even if she rejects me it'll be better than things being awkward right?'_

* * *

"Rose, where are Lila and Nath?" Juleka asked in panic when she saw her girlfriend running back up to her, outside the building with no sign of Lila and Nathanael following.

"I helped them!" Rose grinned.

Juleka's eyes widened in horror "Please tell me you didn't!"

Rose continued to grin "I did! I put them in a closet!"

"No, no!" Juleka cried, shaking her head.

"I think you mean, Yes!" Rose laughed.

Sabrina's eyes widened as she overheard Rose and Juleka talking.

' _She trapped Lila in a closet? But there's a dangerous Akuma in that house now! Also, the house could probably collapse at any moment with her powers…I need to save her!"_

Sabrina started running back up the steps of the house despite the fact Chloe yelled at her to come back.

* * *

Lila looked at Nathanael in concern as he struggled to tell her whatever he wanted to.

She watched as he stopped and took a deep breath.

She raised an eyebrow "It's okay, you can just tell me some other time"

"No!" Nathanael snapped.

Lila looked at him in shock.

"Sorry it's just that um I need to tell you now"

Lila nodded "Okay"

Nathanael managed a small smile and started "I need to tell you that I-"

Then the door was slammed open. They both looked at in shock. Sabrina stood there panting heavily.

"I…found…you," she said between breaths.

"Sabrina?" Lila questioned.

Sabrina got her breath back and said "You two need to get out of here. Now!" she grabbed Lila's hand and pulled her out of the closet.

Nathanael sighed and followed sadly.

Sabrina finally led them outside where some of their classmates were still standing about talking in worried whispers.

Lila sat down on a kerb and Nathanael sat beside her.

"Thank goodness I found you two!" Sabrina said "I overheard Rose saying she had hidden you in a closet, I have no idea why she would do that! It was really dangerous!"

Lila glared at the ground as a hot blush appeared on her face.

' _I told her not to interfere but of course, she doesn't listen!'_

"Sabrina there you are! Why are you talking to the losers c'mon we're leaving!" Chloe said, shooting a glare at Lila before walking away.

"Coming Chloe!" Sabrina said, she turned to race after her "Bye Lila" She shouted over her shoulder.

Lila and Nathanael sat in silence for a few moments. Then Lila remembered Nathanael had wanted to tell her something.

"Oh! You wanted to tell me something didn't you?" she asked.

"Huh?!" Nathanael looked at her with wide eyes, a blush blossoming on his face. "No, no it's okay…it wasn't that important" he sighed and glanced away sadly.

Lila looked at him, eyebrows furrowed as her eyes held concern "Are you sure?"

"Yeah" Nathanael answered "We should start heading back…it's getting cold" he stood up.

Lila nodded and stood up. "You're right, I have had enough adventure for one day!" she grinned.

Nathanael managed a smile and they both begin to slowly walk home.

* * *

Nathanael entered his flat and shut the door with a loud sigh. His mother came out of the living room when she heard him.

"Nathanael, you okay?" she asked.

He looked around at his mother "Yeah, I'm fine…why wouldn't I be?"

His mother raised an eyebrow and rubbed at the lines appearing on Nathanael's forehead.

"Mum, get off!" Nathanael complained, pushing his mum's hand away.

His mum frowned at him "Why do you look upset? What happened? Did you fall out with Lila?"

"No!" Nathanael said "Nothing happened, okay"

"Nath-"

"Leave it, mum!" Nathanael said in an aggressive tone. "I'm going to bed"

He noisily stamped up the stairs leaving his mother in the hallway watching him with worry.

Nathanael entered his room and shut the door. He let out another sigh as he leaned his back on the door before sinking down to the floor slowly and joylessly. He put his head in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees.

"I was an idiot to even consider telling her…maybe it's a good thing Sabrina stopped my confession" he muttered out loud to himself.

"At least I know now that I shouldn't confess…it's not the right time," he said as she stood up.

' _But will it ever be the right time?'_ he thought as he went to get ready for bed.

* * *

 **I was originally going to wait and post this tomorrow but I may as well post it now, can't keep you waiting for too long! This chapter is a little short but I hope you liked it nonetheless :3**


	16. Restitched Heart

Lila walked the school corridors and heard snippets of conversation from passing students. They were all going on about Adrien's party and the fact Nathalie had got akumatised because of all the random students, that Neither Adrien nor Kim knew had come into the house and started trashing it for _fun._

"I heard Adrien has been grounded for a week, he isn't even allowed to come to school!" a girl with blonde pigtails said as she passed Lila.

"Well, it's awful he's grounded but I don't see what's so bad about not having to go to school" Her black haired friend responded to her.

Lila zoned out of all their conversations and her thoughts went to Nathanael.

' _He wanted to tell me something yesterday…it seemed like It was really important to him…maybe I should ask him again but then he may find me annoying after all he said it was nothing and when I asked yesterday by text he completely ignored my texts… but he seemed really upset after the party'_

"Lila, there you are!"

She broke out of her thoughts and looked up to see Rose grinning and beckoning her to come. Juleka and Nathanael stood beside her near the doors of the school.

Lila smiled and quickly walked up to them.

"Now everyone's here we can go!" Rose said as she turned and skipped out the door.

The three of them followed walking slowly behind. Lila fell into step beside Nathanael.

Juleka walked faster and caught up with Rose leaving Lila and Nathanael to walk in silence. Lila glanced at Nathanael curiously before deciding to ask.

"Nathanael," Lila said making him look at her. "Are you okay?"

He raised an eyebrow "Yes, what makes you ask?"

"It's just you went missing all Sunday…you didn't even answer my texts…I haven't annoyed you have I?"

Nathanael's eyes widened "Uh Sorry I was just um busy that's all, you haven't annoyed me"

Lila frowned at the boy her lips forming a tight line. She could tell he wasn't telling the full truth.

Before she could question him further Rose cut in.

"Here we go, let's sit here!" she said as they came to a nice spot in the park near a bench. She knelt down and sat in the grass. Nathanael sat down beside her while Lila and Juleka sat on the bench.

"Hey, Lila I was wondering have you joined any clubs yet?" Rose asked.

Lila shook her head "No, why?"

Rose grinned "really? You could join the scrapbooking club with me!"

Lila tried to hide her horrified look but failed to. This made Rose pout and sigh "It's not that bad you know"

Nathanael and Juleka Laughed.

"Sorry, it's just it's not really my kind of thing" Lila replied anxiously.

Rose nodded and started to open her lunchbox, which was, of course, Pink.

"Nathanael, are you part of any clubs?" Lila asked.

Nathanael shook his head "No"

"Are there no art clubs?"

"There is, I'm part of it but Nathanael refused to come," Juleka said.

Lila looked at the red-haired boy "Why? You enjoy art"

Nathanael shrugged "I just didn't want to go…my art wouldn't be good enough"

"Your art doesn't need to be some professional masterpiece," Juleka said.

Lila nodded "Yeah, you should go and make some friends that like art, like you!"

Nathanael laughed "I don't know, I'll think about it okay"

Lila smiled "See that you do!"

"Talking about friends, Lila you should join a club so you can show people that you're not what all the rumours made you out to be!" Rose said.

Lila blushed "I'm not sure joining a club will instantly make the ones who still dislike me start to like me"

"I know, but it's a start," Rose said, "What clubs would you consider joining?"

"Um, I don't know, what clubs are there?"

"There's fencing or art and also scrapbooking oh and also cooking, music and drama," Rose said.

"Drama!" Lila said excitement danced across her eyes.

"Yeah, Mylene's part of that club, you should ask her about it," Nathanael said.

"There she is!" Rose said as she saw Mylene and Ivan walking along the path. She stood up and went running over to them.

Soon she was running back with Mylene and Ivan following behind.

"I brought them!" Rose grinned "Now Lila ask your question"

Mylene smiled and looked at Lila "So what is it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh I was just wondering if you think it's a good idea of me joining the drama club," Lila said.

Mylene grinned "That's great, you're so good at acting it'll be great to have you join!"

Lila smiled "Thanks, so when is it?"

"Today after school, I can wait for you by the lockers so we can go together," Mylene said.

Lila nodded "Okay"

With that said Mylene and Ivan began to walk away back in the original direction they were heading.

Then Rose started a new topic of conversation. "So have you guys heard about the prom they are holding for our year soon"

They all shook their heads and echoed "No"

"I heard about it from Nino, apparently Mr Damocles asked if he wanted to DJ at it"

"Sounds awesome," Juleka said.

Rose grinned and nodded. She turned to look at Nathanael "You're going to go, right?"

Nathanael shrugged "Depends when it's on"

"Well, Lila's going to go," Rose said, Looking towards the Italian.

Lila nodded "Yeah, sounds fun"

"Oh! We should all go dress shopping for it sometime!" Rose said, glancing excitedly between Juleka and Lila.

Both girls smiled and nodded.

"We should start heading back," Juleka said.

The group began to stand and started walking back to school.

Lila once again fell into step beside Nathanael. Rose and Juleka ahead of them.

"What's our next class?" Lila asked.

"Maths" Nathanael answered.

Lila nodded as she remembered "Right, last hour is so boring"

"Yeah, I hate our timetable on Monday's," Nathanael said.

Lila nodded. "Nathanael you're not going to ignore me tonight if I text you?" she asked with a slight glare.

Nathanael looked at her guilt obvious in his eyes "Uh of course not…" he trailed off, lowering his head as he looked at the ground.

"Then why did you ignore me those other times?"

Nathanael bit his lip "I didn't mean to… can we just drop it…I don't want to fight with you"

Lila sighed "Okay, I suppose it doesn't matter"

Nathanael nodded. They arrived at the School entrance and walked up the steps.

After saying bye to Nathanael, Juleka and Rose, Lila walked off to Maths class.

* * *

Lila arrived at the classroom door and pushed open the door. Kim, Max and Sabrina were already in class plus a few other students that Lila hadn't bothered getting to know.

Lila walked over and sat beside Sabrina,

"So what's going on?"

"Apparently sir's off sick so we have a free class" Sabrina answered.

"Great" Lila said.

Nino and Alya walked into the class and got in their seats. Alya was sitting beside Nino today due to Adrien not being at school.

"We've got free class guys!" Kim shouted over to them.

"Really?" Nino asked

"Yeah," Kim said.

"Great, I can update the ladyblog then," Alya said, taking her phone out.

"You can do that at Home! Instead, we can play truth or dare!" Kim smirked.

The class sighed in annoyance.

"Not again, Kim!" a random blonde haired student complained.

"I'm not joining after last time" A brunette girl muttered.

Kim glared "You guys are no fun!" he slumped in his chair sadly looking at the ceiling.

Nino sighed and Nudged Alya who glared at him before finally relenting.

"Fine, me and Nino will join…what about you two?" Alya looked at Lila and Sabrina.

Lila shrugged "sure, can't be that bad"

She got up and dragged her chair to Kim's desk. Sabrina, Nino and Alya all brought their chairs over as well. They formed a circle around Kim's desk.

Kim grinned "Great who's going to go first?"

"I think Lila should go first after all she's the new addition to our class," Alya said.

Lila glared "Why do I have to go first?"

"Fine, don't if you're scared" Alya smirked.

"Alya" Nino hissed.

Sabrina glared at her for teasing Lila.

"No, I'm not scared!" Lila said "Fine' I'll go first!"

Kim grinned "Then pick your poison truth or dare?"

Lila bit her lip as he thought. _'I can't pick truth then they'll be able to find out anything…could lead to blackmail…but I don't really trust this lot with dares, especially Kim'_

"Hurry up!" Kim complained.

"I'll pick…um…Dare" Lila said.

Kim grinned "I dare you to go on a date with me!"

"Kim!" the rest complained.

Lila glared "I'm not going on a date with you!"

"But you can't back out of the dare!" Kim laughed

"Ignore him, Lila he did this once to Chloe before" Sabrina scoffed.

"Yeah, she still hasn't gone on one with me!" Kim said, crossing his arms.

"She's not gonna, either!" Sabrina hissed.

"Can we get on with the game now?" Nino asked in a bored tone.

"Fine but Lila has to go again as she rejected my dare" Kim complained.

"Whatever" Lila huffed, crossing her arms.

I'll ask her this time" Alya said as she pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose "So c'mon Lila, truth or dare"

"Truth" Lila replied, she had learnt that dares weren't to be trusted with this lot.

Alya fixed her with a cold glare "Do you like anyone in our class?"

Lila's eyes widened as she felt her cheeks grow hot "No, I don't like anyone" she lied.

"Really? Not even Adrien?" Alya asked, a cold glare in her eyes.

"No, I might have been interested in Adrien on my first day but I've realised he isn't really my type," Lila said.

Alya nodded satisfied with her answer.

"So who is it you like?" Nino asked.

"No one" Lila lied, her blushing cheeks said otherwise.

"Oh! I bet it's me!" Kim grinned as he teased the Italian.

"It's not you!" Lila growled.

"Oh, so there is someone!" Kim smirked.

Lila's eyes widened in horror and she felt everyone's curious gazes on her "I don't like anybody okay!"

They kept up their prying gazes and Lila gulped. "Uh…now that is settled I really need to go to the toilet, so bye!" she got up from her chair and went rushing out of the classroom.

The four teens watched her run off with surprised.

"She totally has a crush on someone," Alya said.

"Yeah, on me!" Kim said.

"It's _**not**_ you!" the three of them shouted at Kim.

* * *

Lila never returned to class instead she spent the remaining hour wandering about the hallways when she got bored of that she went into the library to sit and browse through books before the bell went signalling time to go.

The bell rang and Lila found herself slowly walking down to the locker room. She saw the familiar red hair of Nathanael as he sat on a bench his back to her as he leaned over his sketchbook, his pencil making gentle movements across the page.

Lila smiled and sneaked up behind him "So what's that you're drawing?" she asked as she stood behind the boy.

Nathanael jumped in shock and shut his sketchbook at lightning speed. He looked around with wide eyes.

"L-Lila! H-how long w-were you standing there?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" Lila asked. She leaned her arms on the bench as she looked at Nathanael with narrowed eyes.

Nathanael's face went red "U-uh well I-I…did you see what I was drawing?"

Lila laughed "Why? Where you drawing something dirty?" she teased.

Nathanael glared at her, his face still tinted red from his blush. "No, of course Not!" he exclaimed "I would never…"

Lila laughed "no need to get in a fluster, I believe you" she stood back up straight.

Nathanael still watched her with worried eyes, Lila glanced at him with a smile "Your so cute but stop worrying I didn't see your _secret_ artwork"

Nathanael blushed and lowered his gaze to the sketchbook sitting closed in his lap.

Before Lila could tease him anymore her name was called and she turned to see Mylene walking up to her.

"Hey, Lila you ready to go?"

"Oh, the drama club," Lila said as she remembered. She looked at Nathanael. "Nath, are you going to the art club?"

He glanced at her before shaking his head "No…it's not my kind of thing"

"How so? You like Art" Lila said.

"I don't feel comfortable going…please don't make this a big thing" Nathanael said.

Lila sighed "Okay, maybe you'll feel like it some other time"

Nathanael nodded slowly.

"Bye then," Lila said as she walked off with Mylene.

Nathanael watched her walk off letting out a relieved sigh. He flicked open the sketchbook to the page he had been drawing on.

On the page, he had been sketching out a comic that consisted of him and Lila. He blushed _'If she had seen this she'd would have caught on to my crush for sure'_

He sighed again as he stood up and began to walk off home.

* * *

Lila followed Mylene down the corridor and to the drama room. She listened as Mylene talked happily to her.

"We are using the classroom today but sometimes we get to use the stage in the hall"

Lila nodded and looked at Mylene curiously "Mylene, don't take this the wrong way but I never expected someone like you to like acting and being in the spotlight"

"It's true I'm not as confident as the likes of you but I still enjoy acting…I do sometimes still suffer from stage fright but nowadays I try to power through it, it helps me when I remember how proud my father would be of me when he sees me onstage acting, it makes me happy!" Mylene smiled up at Lila with bright eyes.

Lila's eyes widened at Mylene's response. _'She's adorable'_

"That's Great" Lila replied.

"So what makes you like acting?" Mylene asked as they turned a corner in the corridor.

"Oh," Lila muttered surprised to have been asked the question. "I suppose I like taking on the persona of another character, I somehow feel more confident being someone else than being myself" she gave an anxious laugh.

Mylene looked at her in surprise "Really? You shouldn't be worried about being yourself, after all now that I know the real you I like you far better than the Lila who was some rich superstar"

Lila blushed in embarrassment when she heard one of her lies being brought up. She managed to laugh it off.

"Thank you, Mylene," she said.

They approached the classroom and Mylene walked up and opened the door. She walked in with Lila a few steps behind.

Everyone's gazes fell on Lila with curiosity. She caught some giving her distrusting glares. Not everyone in the school had forgiven her yet. They didn't know Lila all they could see was Volpina. Lila looked at the ground sadly.

' _Am I always going to be remembered as some lying villain? I'm never going to get a chance to show them I'm not what the rumours and media made me out to be'_

"Lila, you came!" Miss Taylor's happy voice cut into Lila's negative thoughts. She looked up in surprise and saw Miss Taylor approach her with a beaming smile.

"Mylene told me earlier that you might like to join the club and I was very happy to hear that"

"You were?" Lila said her voice rising at the end in shock causing Miss Taylor to laugh.

"Of course, I could see from Class that you have a great acting ability I was actually considering asking you if you were interested in joining but it appears Mylene beat me to it!"

Lila blushed at the compliments.

"Actually Miss, Lila decided to join herself," Mylene said.

Miss Taylor grinned "Then that's even better I like to see eager students"

Lila laughed "Thanks, I guess"

"Now I know you know Mylene but do you know anyone else in the club?" Miss Taylor asked, her voice much gentler as she looked at Lila with kind eyes.

Lila glanced at the students in the classroom who were still staring at her in curiosity and shook her head "No, I only know Mylene"

"That's okay," Miss Taylor said. She turned to the Class and smiled "Now everyone Lila is joining our club but as she says she doesn't know any of you so how about you introduce yourself to her"

And so each student politely introduced themselves to her. There was a girl with blonde hair tied in pigtails who introduced herself as Aurore Beauréal. Then another girl with tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair and amber eyes introduced herself as Sierra Romano as she fixed a pair of black glasses on her face.

There were two boys who appeared to be twins with similar messy black hair and blue eyes and pale skin. They told Lila their names were Noah and Aiden Moreau.

Then another girl with long black hair that rivalled Lila's in length and green eyes introduced herself as Olivia Dubois. She said this with a smile but Lila could tell from her tone and narrowed eyes that Olivia didn't like her.

Finally, a Boy with brown hair that glinted with strands of ginger in the light introduced himself as Liam Hart as he winked at Lila in a flirty way.

Lila didn't know what to think or say when Sierra spoke up "Don't mind Liam, Lila. He likes to think he is an excellent flirt and a lady's man but he is neither"

Liam glared at the tanned girl "Oh yeah and how many boyfriends have you had again?"

Sierra rolled her eyes at Liam's comment making Lila laugh.

Miss Taylor clapped her hands together bringing the attention back to her "Okay, now that everyone's introduced themselves to Lila how about we start doing some drama!"

The class nodded and headed to the drama storeroom, Lila slowly followed behind and looked into the store to see the students rummaging through the boxes and throwing things on the floor with no concern at all.

She felt her fists tighten and she breathed heavily to try and control the anger rising in her body. _'They're just messing up all my hard work…I am_ _ **NOT**_ _cleaning that store up again!_ '

Miss Taylor came to stand beside Lila and gave her a look of concern "You okay, Lila?"

"I'm fine, totally fine!" Lila said a bit passive-aggressive.

Then Miss Taylor's eyes widened as she remembered how Lila had spent ages cleaning the store.

"Everybody how about when you find the stuff you're looking for you put everything else back again tidily"

The students stopped searching and looked around at each other in confusion. Miss Taylor had never been one to care if things were neat or not, she was probably the most laidback and somewhat messy teacher in the school.

Noah was the first to speak as he shrugged "Sure, Miss" and began to put the costumes he spilt out of a box back in the box.

The rest followed his actions and began to tidy up the boxes they had messed before they started searching again in a gentler and tidier way.

Lila breathed a sigh of relief. She really hadn't wanted to ruin her first impression by getting angry over a messed up store.

"What are they looking for anyway?" Lila asked.

"Some old scripts so everyone can practice and help each other improve acting and performance techniques" Miss Taylor replied.

Lila nodded and walked into the store "Hey, the box full of scripts should be over there" she pointed to the corner where three boxes were stacked on top of each other.

Olivia looked at her with an unimpressed look and said in a haughty voice "Actually I already looked over there and I saw no scripts"

"That's weird…I was sure me and rose placed them over there" Lila muttered.

"We can always check again," Liam said cheerfully as he strolled over to the boxes. "So do you know what box it is?" he asked and glanced at Lila.

"Uhm…I think it was the second one" Lila said,

Liam nodded and removed the top box placing it on the ground before going to open the second box.

Olivia watched with a narrowed glare.

He opened the box and smiled when he saw all the scripts "It looks like Olivia didn't look too hard, the scripts are here"

Lila smiled and then glanced in Olivia's direction to see glaring at her with a fiery anger. Lila gulped and glanced away.

Liam took out eight scripts for the group and handed them out. Olivia snatched hers off him rudely and proceeded to storm out of the store making sure to hit into Lila's shoulder as she passed.

Lila stumbled and nearly knocked into a pile of boxes, fortunately, Sierra grabbed her arm steadying her. Lila glared after Olivia and muttered "What a horrible girl"

Sierra heard her and gave Lila a rueful smile "Just ignore her she just doesn't like it when someone else is the centre of attention instead of her"

Lila nodded "I see"

Liam walked over to them with the three remaining scripts in his hands.

He held one out to Lila with a grin "I saved the best one for you, Lila"

Lila accepted it and then he held out another to Sierra "and I saved the worst for you!"

Sierra took it and rolled her eyes "Grow up, Liam"

Liam laughed as Sierra grabbed Lila's arm and pulled her out of the store with her.

Lila laughed "You and Liam really don't get along"

"We don't hate each other but we are childhood friends so I had to deal with him all my life it gets annoying quickly" Sierra explained.

Lila nodded "I see, I thought you liked him"

Sierra looked at Lila a look of horror on her face. "Wh-what, me and Liam! N-no! No way that will ever happen!" she folded her arms in anger.

Lila covered her mouth as she tried to hide her laughter "Sorry it's just I thought there was chemistry between you two"

Sierra glared at Lila before a smirk appeared on her face "Well, Liam seems to already have a thing for you and I don't see you telling him that you're not interested"

Lila's eyes widened and she shook her head "I don't have feelings for Liam, I just met the boy!" she hissed.

Sierra laughed "I was just kidding with ya"

Lila pouted "Still I'll never have feelings for Liam so don't you start thinking or saying anything more about that!"

"Oh, why not? You have a boyfriend?" Sierra asked with gleaming eyes.

Lila blushed "No"

"Ohh so you have a crush!" Sierra said with a teasing grin. When she saw Lila's face darken from a hot blush she laughed "So who is it? Do you think I might know them?"

Lila shook her head, strands of brown hair whipping around her face "No you don't- Ah! I mean I don't have a crush!" She exclaimed.

Sierra narrowed her eyes and glanced over her shoulder "Hey, Mylene can you come over here!"

Mylene looked up from the script she was reading through with Aurore and when she saw Sierra was calling her she walked over with a smile.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you know who Lila likes?" Sierra asked with a smirk.

Mylene looked at Lila with surprised eyes "You like someone in class?"

"I don't like anybody!" Lila exclaimed.

"Yes you do, don't lie!" Sierra laughed.

Lila glared at the girl. Sierra ignored her and looked at Mylene with a grin "So tell me is there anybody Lila always seems to be around?"

Mylene furrowed her eyebrows in thought and shook her head "No I don't think there's anybody"

Lila gave a sigh of relief but then she heard Mylene gasp.

"Wait, there is Nathanael!"

Lila froze and Sierra grinned.

"Nathanael, hmm so he is the one" she teased.

"No, of course not" Lila cried "Nathanael is just my friend!"

Sierra laughed and Mylene giggled.

"It's okay I know Nathanael's just a friend to you," Mylene said.

Then Miss Taylor walked over to the girls.

"So are you three going to do any work today?" she asked.

The girls laughed guiltily.

"Sorry, Miss but Lila is just so interesting" Sierra grinned.

Miss Taylor smiled "as happy as I am that you and Lila are getting along I would rather you actually try some acting in the few remaining hours you have left"

"Sure thing!" Sierra said.

"Lila, how about you go over and see if Olivia needs help she seemed like she was struggling with some things," Miss Taylor said.

Lila raised her eyebrows at that instruction but decided not to disagree. She glanced over at Olivia who was reading Lines in the corner away from the rest of the group.

She slowly walked over. "Hey, Olivia"

Olivia glanced up and her eyebrows furrowed downwards as she glared at Lila who stood in front of her.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly.

Lila decided to not be off put by Olivia's unfriendly behaviour "Miss Taylor said you might need some help"

Olivia looked over at Miss Taylor who was currently helping Mylene and Sierra. She looked back at Lila with a cold glare.

"I don't need Help from the likes of you" she hissed.

"What?" Lila said in shock.

"You heard me," Olivia said, "Everyone else may be fooled by your oh so charming behaviour but I'm not as stupid as the rest so get out of my sight!"

Lila was shocked by the girl's words and she took a few steps back with blinking eyes. She decided that there was no point saying anything seeing as the girl had already made up her mind about her. She turned around and headed back over to Sierra and Mylene.

Sierra saw the sad look on Lila's face and she was instantly concerned "Lila, did Olivia say something? You want me to tell her to lay off?"

"No, everything's fine…nothing I can't cope with" Lila said forcing a smile on her face.

Sierra nodded "Okay, how about we do some acting that'll take your mind off her"

Lila opened up her script "Sure"

After that, she spent the rest of the club time hanging out with Sierra and Mylene and did her best to avoid Olivia. She didn't want any fights breaking out.

Then the time came for them all to head home.

Lila was walking down the steps of Françoise Dupont when she heard her name being called. She stopped and looked around to see Sierra rushing over to her.

"Wait, Lila, I never got your number," she said as she waved her phone.

"Oh," Lila said and then she took her phone out of her pocket. They swapped contacts. When Liam casually strolled up with his hands in his pockets.

"Did Lila give her number to you?" He asked Sierra.

She glared "Yes and No you're not getting it, leave the girl alone!"

"I'm not annoying her, am I Lila?" Liam asked with a grin.

Before Lila could answer Sierra had grabbed him by the back of his t-shirt and was pulling him away. "I said Leave her alone!" she hissed.

"Bye," Lila shouted after them.

They took a break from their arguing to shout Bye back and then they were back to arguing as Sierra dragged Liam down the street.

She shook her head at them. _'I have a feeling they do have feelings for each other but don't realise…I'm not going to interfere though, Sierra would rip my head off'_ Lila thought to herself with a laugh.

Then Charles pulled up by the school and Lila walked towards the car and opened the door and got in.

"So was this drama club you stayed behind for any good?" Charles asked.

Lila nodded and with a bright happy smile said "Yeah, it was really fun and I made some new friends"

"That's good" he replied as he pulled out from alongside the building and headed in the direction of Lila's home.

* * *

 **when I first wrote Sierra and Liam they were just going to be ~there~ but now they are my precious children, I hope to include them in future fics. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :3**


	17. I don't need a Hero

The next day Lila walked up the stairs to Nathanael's apartment. She knocked the door and waited patiently outside.

Soon the door was opened by Nathanael. He had his clothes on but his hair was still a ruffled mess and his eyes were bleary from lack of proper sleep.

"Lila, what are you doing here?" Nathanael asked, his eyes quickly widening in surprise as he quickly ran a hand through his hair trying to flatten it but the strands of hair just raised up again.

"I thought we could walk to school together," Lila said brightly.

"Oh," Nathanael said "Sure, I still have a few things to do so um you should come in"

He moved aside to let Lila walk in "that's okay" she said, "But how late did you get up?"

"Not too late…but I couldn't sleep last night" Nathanael said as she shut the door.

"Why not?" Lila asked.

"The usual nightmares" Nathanael muttered with a shrug.

"Oh," Lila muttered sadly.

"Anyway, how did your drama club go?" Nathanael asked as he began to walk up the stairs.

Lila followed behind "It was good, at the start, some people were still giving me wary glares but after a while, everyone was really welcoming!" she smiled. She had decided not to mention Olivia and her bad attitude as she didn't want to worry Nathanael.

Nathanael glanced behind him and saw Lila's smile and felt a smile of his own appearing, glad she was happy.

"That's great," he said.

They reached the top landing and Lila hovered unsure where to go. Nathanael noticed this and he pointed towards his room "You can go wait in my room if you want"

Lila nodded "Okay" she walked over and was about to push open the door when Nathanael shouted, "Wait!"

She glanced over her shoulder at him in confusion.

He blushed "uh I just remembered I um need to tidy up some things…" he rushed over "Can you wait out here for a few seconds"

"I'm sure it's fine, my room can be a mess too!" Lila laughed.

"No!" Nathanael said "just wait"

Lila raised an eyebrow in confusion as Nathanael quickly went into his room and shut the door.

"He really can be weird…" Lila muttered to herself as she waited outside the door.

Inside the room, Nathanael was frantically grabbing every page or sketchbook that he had drawn Lila or anything relating to his crush on Lila on. Soon his arms were full of pages and a sketchbook. He looked around wildly for a place to hide them.

Then he heard Lila knock on the door "Nath, can I come in yet?"

His eyes widened in panic "Uh give me a few more seconds" he shouted back.

He smiled when an idea came to him and he rushed and knelt down as he pushed them all through the small gap underneath his wardrobe. He stood back up and sighed in relief when he saw none of the pages could be seen. Then he put the sketchbook in his bag alongside another sketchbook.

"You can come in now," Nathanael said.

Lila pushed the handle and walked in, looking around the room.

"I don't know why you were in a panic for this place isn't that untidy…oh except that desk" she pointed over to his desk which looked like an explosion had gone off on it as pages, sketchbooks, pens, pencils and markers littered the desk.

Nathanael looked at his desk and looked at Lila with a small glare "That's not a mess, it's called organised chaos"

Lila laughed "Organised Chaos, that's a good one"

"It's organised!" Nathanael exclaimed "now I have to finish getting ready, so wait here"

Lila nodded as Nathanael walked out of the room.

Lila looked around the bedroom. Its walls had been painted a soft grey and Nathanael had put up many an artwork most of them involved fictional superheroes such as Batman or Spiderman. His bed had a black bed frame with a dark navy blue bedsheets on top beside the bed sat a black bedroom locker with a lamp with a grey lampshade sat on top.

Then her eyes focused back on his desk and shook her head. No matter what Nathanael said that was not organised chaos that was a just chaos. Lila walked to the desk and started to tidy the mess of pages and pencils, pens and markers up.

She neatly piled up a bunch of white pages some with sketches on them and some were blank she sorted them into two separate piles. Then she saw a green sketchbook she hadn't seen him use before under the mess of pages. She picked it up and stared at it she really wanted to look in it.

' _Nathanael is very private about his work he might get annoyed if I look through his old sketchbook'_ Lila thought. She bit her lip and glanced over shoulder there was no sign of Nathanael coming back anytime soon.

Curiosity got the better of her and she opened it. She gently flicked through it with a smile but soon that smile vanished when she was met with page after page of Marinette.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she felt jealousy stir inside her. _Does he have a crush on Marinette? He never said anything…'_ she quickly flicked through the rest of the pages which were also of Marinette

' _This is an old sketchbook he's probably over his crush on her…I hope'_ Lila thought. she placed the sketchbook back down on the desk just in time as the door creaked open.

"Lila, You coming?" Nathanael asked at the doorway.

Lila quickly turned around putting on a smile "I couldn't stand how untidy your desk was so I had to organise it"

"Lila, I already said that's organised Mess," Nathanael said "Now c'mon we don't want to be late for school," he said.

Lila nodded as Nathanael walked away. Lila glanced at the Sketchbook with a jealous glare one last time before following after Nathanael.

* * *

All the walk to School Lila was deep in thought wondering if Nathanael had a crush on Marinette. _'I wouldn't blame him, everyone seems to love her…how am I meant to compete with that? She's kind to mostly everyone and she always helping people…I'm nothing compared to her…I'm just a liar'_

"Lila!" Nathanael said loudly cutting into her thoughts.

Lila snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Nathanael with wide eyes. "What?" she asked.

"Were you listening to anything I said?" he asked.

"Umm…well…No, sorry," Lila said when she couldn't think of what he said.

Nathanael looked at her with concern "are you okay? You seem very out of it"

"I'm totally fine, just didn't sleep much last night" Lila lied, she smiled at him before looking away.

"Well, Okay," Nathanael said.

The rest of the walk to school was silent which Nathanael found strange, usually, Lila would be talking about some crazy idea she had. He glanced at her in concern and saw her eyes narrowed in thought, she was in a different world at the moment.

He sighed quietly if only she would open up to him. He wondered what he could have done to make her suddenly close herself off. It was like she didn't fully trust him anymore and that thought made Nathanael's heart hurt.

' _Maybe I'm just over thinking everything and she just didn't get enough sleep last night like she said'_ Nathanael thought mostly trying to convince himself. It was pointless he knew Lila and because of this he could tell she was worried about something _'She'll open up in her own time, I can't rush her'_

Nathanael looked at Lila at the same time she looked at him, a small blush spread across both their faces as they quickly looked away again.

Nathanael sighed in relief when he saw the school insight he didn't know why but things felt more awkward than usual between him and Lila.

* * *

Lila glanced over and saw Nathanael drawing Ladybug.

' _First, it was Marinette, now it's that's stupid Ladybug…why won't he ever noticed me! I'm there for him when he needs me I never see Marinette or Ladybug caring about him!'_ The jealousy that had been growing inside her suddenly reached a breaking point and her eyes narrowed and hardened into a glare.

"Why are you drawing that pest?" Lila hissed.

Nathanael looked at her in shock to hear her talk in such an aggressive tone to him. "W-what?" he stuttered.

"You heard me! What makes you want to draw Ladybug? She's nothing but a bully hiding behind a mask!" she said this loudly causing some of the class to hear and looked at her with mixtures of glares and confused gazes.

"What was that?" Alya asked, looking at Lila with a frown.

Lila looked at her with a cold glare in her green eyes "Your so-called precious Ladybug is nothing but a bully who uses her power of adoration from all of Paris as an advantage over people who fail to bow down to her!"

"We know that's lies!" Chloe laughed "fed up of not getting attention, Rossi?" Chloe got up out of her desk and walked up to the back.

"Oh shut up, Bourgeois just because your hero represents everything you are yet everyone else is meant to despise!" Lila said also standing up.

"Lila. Calm down" Nathanael said softly, placing his hand on her arm.

"Get off me!" Lila snapped, shoving Nathanael off her in annoyance.

Nathanael gasped and looked at her with a mixture of shock and betrayal. Lila had never been so angry with him before.

"L-Lila" Nathanael whispered.

Lila turned her head ignoring him as Chloe started again.

"You're just jealous because unlike Ladybug, you're just a loser with loser friends and has to make up lame lies to feel good about herself. How pathetic" Chloe said "you're not worth my time" Chloe began walking back to her desk

"Don't you walk away from me!" Lila yelled, stomping after her. "You're the pathetic one. How are you all so blind? Ladybug is a villain! Paris brags about how they have these two amazing superheroes, but they're awful! Ladybug is a stuck-up jerk with a god complex. Ladybug is the worst person I've ever met!" Lila took a few deep breaths. There was a crazy glint in her eye.

The whole class glared daggers at her.

"Why would you say that? Without Ladybug Paris would be destroyed! You should be thankful we have such a great _Hero_ " Alya said.

Lila glared at her but before she could say anything Chloe had to put another comment in.

"Not even your only friend will stand up for you, nobody truly likes you, Liar!"

Tears filled her eyes. "That's not true!" She glanced at Nathanael for help but he just watched with wide eyes filled with confusion and sadness.

"Oh is the Liar going to cry!" Chloe teased, letting out a laugh.

Tears rushed down Lila's cheeks as she shoved Chloe out of the way and rushed out of the classroom. She didn't hear Nathanael's shouts as he called her.

Lila ran down the corridor her boots thudding against the ground as tears raced down her cheeks and blurred her vision.

She ran into an empty classroom, the lights were off casting her in darkness. She couldn't hold the hurt any longer and she fell to the floor in a dishevelled heap as her sorrow poured out in a flood of uncontrollable tears. A great sob escaped her, and she covered her face with shaking hands.

' _I hate Ladybug, I hate Chloe…I hate them all!"_ She thought. Then she took deep shaky breaths to calm herself. Then another thought made its way into her mind.

' _You really are a liar, it's not them you hate it's yourself…even Nathanael hates you now, Your pathetic'_

And just like that fresh tears filled her green eyes, her thick lashes stuck together in clumps as if she'd been swimming. The tears made wet tracks down her face and she felt her body start to tremble.

She didn't notice the small black butterfly that came in through a gap in the window and silently fluttered over towards the crying Italian. It swooped down and went inside the foxtail necklace that hung around her neck.

Lila gasped as she felt the familiar feeling of Hawkmoth gaining control. A glowing butterfly symbol appeared over her face.

"Volpina, they have humiliated you and it's all because of Ladybug, don't you want revenge on Paris and Ladybug once and for all?" Hawkmoths voice echoed through her mind.

She felt all her reasonable senses become clouded as her eyes narrowed in anger.

"Yes," Lila said.

"Good, I suppose you know the drill, get me Ladybugs and Chat Noir's miraculous and you'll have your revenge"

Lila felt the strange feeling spread throughout her body as the black aura covered her and disappeared leaving Volpina in the place of Lila.

She stood up and let out a laugh "This time I really will destroy Ladybug" she took her flute and blew into it a little a golden beam of light appearing at the end.

* * *

 **Oooh what will happen next! Hope you guys liked the chapter! ;D**


	18. I need a Hero

Nathanael stood near his desk staring out the doorway willing Lila to come back. The classroom had plunged into an uncomfortable silence after Lila had rushed out in tears.

' _I should have gone after her…I think this is about more than just being annoyed at Ladybug…I'm such a pathetic friend'_

"She really doesn't take the truth well, does she?" Chloe laughed "At least it got rid of her! Nobody wants her around here"

Nathanael couldn't stand listening to Chloe's bratty voice anymore. He looked at her with a piercing gaze.

"Shut up, Chloe," he said, coldly "You are cruel and thoughtless and arrogant, you represent everything I despise…you represent what everyone despises!" His voice cut through the tension in the room. Leaving everyone to stare at him in shock, they had never seen Nathanael so cold and unforgiving before.

Chloe's eyes widened in shock "If that's how you really feel then why didn't you stand up for your little lying friend, hmm?" she said in a mocking tone "Oh that's right because you also realise what a horrible person she is, not me, her!"

"Lila's not horrible, she only told a few lies because she was worried she'd be alone! Unlike you, she didn't tell lies to hurt people!" Nathanael snapped.

"Guys! Cut it out!" Alya shouted.

They both looked at her in surprise.

She sighed and held up her phone "It appears that Lila's been akumatised"

Nathanael's eyes widened in worry and shock. "What…No…I should have gone after her" he muttered

Chloe strolled up and grabbed the phone out of Alya's hands despite the girl's annoyed comments about "being careful"

"Typical Rossi, she just has to get attention one way or another…honestly what does she think she's doing wrecking Paris!"

"She's obviously trying to get Ladybugs attention," Alya said, snatching her phone back from Chloe.

Nathanael gasped. _'What am I doing…I can't just stand here, I need to get Lila back…Lila needs me!'_

He rushed down the classroom and out the door.

"Nathanael, where you going!" Rose shouted after him.

"He must be going in search of Lila" Juleka voiced up.

The class gasped.

"He wouldn't be that foolish, would he? She's an Akuma now, she would be dangerous!" Mylene said in a fearful voice. She pressed herself closer to Ivan who was standing beside her and he wrapped an arm around her protectively.

"I'm sure Lila wouldn't hurt Nathanael, even though she's Volpina now she still knows Nathanael's a friend!" Rose said with a nod of assurance.

"I hope you right" Juleka whispered.

* * *

Nathanael went running down the stairs of the school and his feet hit the pavement. He had never run so fast in his life.

He sprinted down the street. The cars rushed by and he nearly crashed into people, fortunately, they parted to let him through though some people muttered about "no manners" Nathanael didn't care about that, all that was going through his head was _'Lila…I need to get to Lila'_

Nathanael didn't have to go far to find Lila. As he was rushing down an alleyway.

A voice called out: "Where do you think you're going, little red?"

He turned around and gasped when he saw Volpina sitting up on a wall looking smug with herself. She gracefully jumped down and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Well, you still haven't answered my question, which can be considered rude"

"I was looking for you" Nathanael whispered, he looked at her with concerned eyes.

"Why would you do a silly thing like that, little red?" she asked, an unusual harshness to her words.

"Why-"

Volpina cut in not letting him talk "No, I'm not listening to your lies"

Nathanael raised an eyebrow in confusion "Lies?" he asked. "I would never-"

"Save It, Nathanael!" Volpina shouted. Her eyes flashed with anger "I know the truth now! I thought I could trust you but you're just another ladybug fanboy out to keep me quiet about your _precious_ pest!

"What? I'm not a Ladybug fanboy!" Nathanael said.

Volpina rolled her eyes and scoffed "Sure and you just happened to be drawing her!"

"Is that what this is about?" he asked, his eyes widening.

Volpina didn't answer as a harsh purple glow appeared over her face in a shape of a butterfly. Her eyes flickered from Nathanael to the ground. She shook her head and muttered, "No I can't-"

Nathanael felt his hands tighten into fists as he wondered what Hawkmoth was saying to manipulate the girl into helping him.

"Fine" Volpina sighed. The Purple glow disappeared as she looked back up at Nathanael with sad eyes.

"I need to get Ladybugs miraculous but I'm not finished with you"

"What?" Nathanael asked confused.

Volpina glared at him "So you're coming with me!"

"Wait, what?" Nathanael exclaimed "H-how?"

Volpina rolled her eyes as she walked up to Nathanael. Nathanael raised an eyebrow wondering what she was going to do.

Nathanael let out a squeal of surprise as she lifted him off his feet, pulling him close to her. Nathanael's face quickly heated up in a dark blush as he registered his position, not daring to look up at the vixen Akuma. He knew she was probably smirking and he would be right.

"I-I don't t-think yo-you'll be able to ca-carry m-me for l-long!" He managed to stutter out.

"Quit your whining, Tomato," Volpina said as she took off into the sky and then she was high above the Parisian streets as she ran along the rooftops.

"Where are we going?" Nathanael asked.

Volpina glanced at the red-head before saying "You'll find out soon"

Nathanael gulped. _'I hope she isn't planning something Crazy…what am I thinking? She's akumatised! Of course, she's planning something crazy'_

They arrived at their location and Volpina set Nathanael down.

Nathanael let out a sigh of relief as he felt his feet hit solid ground, but then his knees gave out and he hit the cold stone. He looked up to see the whole of Paris laid out before his eyes. Then he glanced down and his stomach dropped and his eyes widened in fear.

Volpina grinned "I've always wanted to visit this place." she stepped forward to watch the tiny cars pass by below them.

Nathanael quickly scrambled to his feet and took a few cautious steps away from the edge as he tried to steady his breathing. Underneath him, long black roads stretched in every direction and he was in the middle of it all. Very high up in the middle of it all.

"The Arc de Triomphe." Volpina began. "Over two-hundred years old, right?"

' _And fifty meters tall.'_ Nathanael thought with a gulp.

"I think this place is very fitting, after all, I'm claiming my own triumph," Volpina said with a smirk, still looking out at the darkening city.

"Lila why are you doing this, it's not like you," Nathanael said, taking a step towards her.

Volpina quickly turned around, a fierce glare in her eyes "My name is Volpina and you know nothing about me!" she snarled.

Nathanael's eyes widened and he took a step backwards "Nothing about you…you honestly think that!?"

Volpina raised an eyebrow at Nathanael's words.

Nathanael lowered his head as he began to talk in a shaky voice "I know you, Lila, at least I believe I do…I know that you're really caring and sweet when you let your guard down around people you trust, I know you actually care about people's opinions more than you let on and that's why you Lie, you thought nobody would like you for who you truly are but…I do! I like how you're so passionate about your interests and protective of your friends…you always encourage and support me…you are amazing in your own way…even when you're being reckless or blunt you're still amazing to me"

He finally looked back up his blue eyes looked as if an ocean had been encased inside of small glass marbles. _'Please don't leave me'_ they said. Then the smooth spheres appeared to be cracked; the ocean had started to leak, little water droplets streamed down Nathanael's pale cheeks.

Volpina gasped when she saw the tears drip down from his large blue eyes. She moved a step closer.

"Nathanael" she began to talk.

"No!" Nathanael exclaimed, tears blurring his eyesight. "You said what you said…at least I know how you truly feel now" He took another step back from her.

Volpina's eyes widened as she saw what was going to happen "Nath!"

"Shut up!" Nathanael shouted he took another step backwards. Then he was falling.

"Lila!" Nathanael yelled, looking down in terror to see cars becoming more distinct, the pavement drawing closer.

The wind clung to his clothes, and he felt a chill as the cool breeze whistled through his shirt. His red hair whipped around his face, but every so often he would get a clear view of the city around him – so painfully beautiful, even when it was only glimpses of colour and sound.

He couldn't bare it anymore so he shut his eyes as he prepared himself to meet the cold, hard ground. _'I wonder if it'll hurt much'_ he thought, fear swirled within his body _'I never thought it would end like this'_.

Then he felt himself become wrapped in a warm, comforting grip. His eyes fluttered open and he saw Lila or well Volpina had him in her arms.

"L-Lila" he stuttered, fresh tears welling up in his eyes.

Volpina glanced at him but said nothing as she gently lowered herself to the ground as she held Nathanael bridal style.

She reached the ground and set Nathanael down gently. She looked over him with concerned eyes.

"You're okay, right?" she asked.

"Ye-yeah, I-I think so" Nathanael stuttered, still shocked. Tears still slowly streamed down his cheeks. Volpina reached and gently wiped away his tears.

"I'm sorry, this was my fault…I should have realised…" she sighed, then looked away from Nathanael.

Nathanael was about to speak when a purple glow appeared across Volpina's face. He watched with wide eyes as she shook her head and muttered "I can't leave him…but- …No! I'll do it!" The butterfly glow on her face disappeared.

"I need to go, I need to get Ladybugs miraculous," she said her eye's becoming dull. She started to walk away.

' _No I can't let her go, I need to make Lila see sense before she seriously hurts herself'_

He rushed and grabbed her wrist stopping her. She looked over her shoulder at him, her lips in a tight line as her eyes flashed with a dangerous warning.

"Let go" she hissed.

Nathanael looked at her with a determined gaze "No, not until you see sense"

"I see sense, unlike you…go home, Nathanael, stay out of this for your own sake"

"No, I'm not leaving you!" Nathanael said.

Volpina wrenched her wrist out of Nathanael's grip and turned to him with furrowed eyebrows "Just leave Nathanael…before he hurts you!" she exclaimed.

"Hurt's me? Who?" Nathanael asked. Confusion danced across his eyes.

Volpina's eyes widened with a mixture of concern and fear "Hawkmoth" she whispered. She lowered her head, her hair shielding her expressions from sight. "He said he'd hurt you if I didn't continue with the plan"

Nathanael glared as he heard these words. "Don't listen to him Lila, he's not going to hurt me…he just said that to take advantage of you, he's lying"

Volpina shook her head "No…he said he was helping me…he said I needed to get the miraculous and then-"

"And then what? He'll toss you aside, he's just using you!" Nathanael roared. _'I need to get through to her…she's too far manipulated, he's clouded her mind…how am I meant to get Lila back?"_

Then Ladybug and Chat Noir swooped in.

"Volpina!" Ladybug called out as she landed on the ground. She spun her yo-yo around so that it created a red blur of a shield.

Chat Noir landed behind Ladybug and narrowed his green eyes at Volpina.

Volpina turned around and glared at the superheroes. She grabbed her flute and spun it around in her hands. "Ladybug" she growled.

' _I need to stop this'_ Nathanael thought as he watched with wide eyes. He watched as Lila raised the flute up to her lips and then he shouted out: "Please just give up this fight with Ladybug, I don't want to lose you, Lila"

Volpina lowered the flute and glanced at him. "Now isn't the time, Little red" she hissed.

Ladybug and Chat Noir glanced at each other in confusion.

"Aren't we meant to be fighting her, my lady?" Chat Noir asked.

"she seems to be preoccupied with Nath- err I meant the boy with red hair" Ladybug answered, covering up the fact she knew Nathanael in case it leads to suspicions about her civilian Life.

"You're not acting like yourself!" Nathanael exclaimed, "I thought you were trying to make up for lying, trying to get rid of the past!"

"I tried that but still nobody will see past that, they all see me as a pathetic liar!" Volpina shouted back.

Nathanael's eyes softened "I don't," he said softly "I could never see you as just a pathetic liar"

Nathanael watched as those green eyes began to soften and his heart filled with hope.

"Please stop this pointless fight against Ladybug, please just come back, Lila"

Volpina glanced at the flute in her hands and then back at Nathanael. She gave a small nod.

Nathanael smiled happily glad to have gotten through to Lila.

But the fight was far from over as Volpina winced as a harsh purple glow appeared over her face in a shape of a butterfly. Nathanael watched as her hands tightened around the flute she was holding.

Her body started to tremble as pain radiated through it and Hawkmoth's enraged voice echoed through her mind.

"S-stop It" Volpina cried, her body shook in pain.

"Lila!" Nathanael said, his eyes widened in shock. He gasped as he realised what was happening. He could faintly remember his time as Evillustrator when Hawkmoth had controlled him and caused him pain.

"What's happening?!" Chat Noir shouted out.

Nathanael didn't have time to answer him he had to act quickly. He had to save Lila.

He quickly reached across and grabbed the foxtail necklace that hung around her neck. He pulled on it snapping the chain. Volpina gasped.

Nathanael threw the necklace to the ground and stood down hard on it with the heel of his foot. It cracked and a black butterfly fluttered out.

"Lila." Nathanael breathed, relieved. Volpina had gone and in her place stood Lila in her usual clothes. Volpina's costume, her tail, it was all gone.

Lila managed to give him a small smile, then her eyes rolled back into her head and she slowly collapsed to the ground. Nathanael rushed to catch her before she hit the ground. Then he looked up and saw the butterfly still doing aggressive loops in the sky.

Then a blur of red leapt through the air and the Akuma was gone.

"Gotcha!" Ladybug yelled. Nathanael watched as she twirled her yo-yo skilfully in the air, and when she opened it a white butterfly flew out and fluttered slowly towards the sky. "Bye, bye, little butterfly." Ladybug said softly, watching it float away.

Then Ladybug approached Nathanael with a concerned gaze. She looked down at the unconscious Italian he held in his arms.

"Is she okay?" Ladybug asked. Chat Noir hovered behind her with wide eyes.

Nathanael glanced down at Lila anxiously before back at Ladybug he opened his mouth to answer but was beat to it.

"I'm fine," Lila said, groaning as she opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Then she realized that she was in Nathanael's arms. A blush spread across her face.

They both heard Ladybug yell " _miraculous ladybug_ " and the city healed around them.

"How are you feeling?" Nathanael asked, looking at her with a concerned gaze.

"My head hurts a little" Lila said. She reached up and rubbed her head.

"Well, you did just have Hawkmoth inside your head that would give anyone a headache," Nathanael said with a grin.

Lila started to smile "Yeah, I suppose it would"

"Hey, Lila can we talk"

Lila and Nathanael looked to see Ladybug shifting on her feet anxiously as she looked at Lila with an anxious smile.

Lila's eyes widened in shock and she glanced at Nathanael who gave her an encouraging smile. She looked back at Ladybug and stood up. Nathanael stood up after her.

Ladybug began to speak "I'm sorry about what I did, I should have never acted so irrationally, I realise now how wrong it was of me to act so harshly… I'm really sorry"

Lila smiled "I'm sorry as well, I should never have told those lies it was foolish of me…I'm also sorry for holding a grudge for so long"

Ladybug's eyes brightened up as she smiled "So friends?" she held out a hand.

Lila nodded and accepted Ladybug's hand which she shook "Sure, friends"

Nathanael looked on as Lila agreed to be friends with Ladybug. He was proud of Lila for getting past her grudge on Ladybug.

Lila looked over at Nathanael with a bright smile, her eyes sparkled with happiness.

He blushed and smiled back.

* * *

 **I have had the absolute WORST writer's block ugh it's been so frustrating. So this chapter might not be as dramatic or angsty as I wanted it to be but I still hope that you all like it! I'm in the middle of my Midterm break so I hope to get the few remaining chapters out soon! Leave a review if you'd like! :3**


	19. No more Lies

Lila sat on grey steps as she stared way off into the distance at the Eiffel tower. She was in the Champ de Mars. She couldn't face going back to school despite making amends with ladybug she was still nervous to face everyone back at school especially Chloe.

' _I wonder what they're all doing…Nath said he'd come back after he got our bags but he's been awhile'_ Lila thought as she placed her head in the palms of her hands.

"I can't look at my phone" she muttered. She couldn't bring herself to look at her phone knowing it would only lead to more anger and sadness when she saw what people had been saying about her.

' _I can already imagine…Hawkmoth's most evil Akuma strikes again or something as equally stupid'_ she sighed.

Lila sensed movement beside her and looked to see Nathanael sitting down on the steps beside her.

"Sorry I took so long but Miss Bustier kept asking me question after question," Nathanael said.

Lila nodded and took her satchel from Nathanael. "Thanks for getting this for me"

Nathanael smiled "It was no problem"

After that, a comfortable silence fell over the two of them. They looked away from each other and gazed around the park.

Nathanael glanced at Lila and then at his satchel in his lap. He decided he may as well show her. He opened the satchel and took out one of the two sketchbooks in the bag.

"Hey um Lila," he said.

She looked at him with curious eyes.

"Here," Nathanael said, handing over the sketchbook as his face slowly turned red.

"What's this about?" Lila asked as she took the sketchbook and held it gently in her hands.

"Just open it" Nathanael instructed.

Lila glanced at him curiously. Then she looked back the sketchbook which she gently opened.

Her eyes widened as she saw the drawing on the first page. "This is me!" she said.

Nathanael blushed "Uh yeah…the whole sketchbook is off you…shit! That's creepy isn't it?"

Lila gave a laugh and shook her head "No" she flicked to the next page and a smile appeared on her face.

She looked through more pages of Nathanael's sketches. "These are amazing, Nathy…you actually drew all these of me" she looked at him with sparkling eyes.

Nathanael smiled and glanced down at the ground embarrassed "Yeah…I'm glad you like them"

Then Lila gasped as she came to a page "You even drew Volpina, why?"

Nathanael looked up and at Lila "Oh, don't be mistaken I wasn't going by reality"

Lila gave him a curious look and asked "What?"

Nathanael felt heat spread over his face "I was drawing Volpina- er you as a hero" he fiddled with the strap of his bag nervously.

"I'm no hero" Lila muttered, glancing away.

Nathanael looked at Lila in surprise. "Maybe so, but you have saved me from Chloe countless times, not to mention you always catch me before I fall on my face" he grinned.

Lila looked at him and giggled. She pushed some hair behind her ear.

Nathanael smiled and looked down at his bag. "I actually have many more drawings of you" he confessed with a blush "I hope you that doesn't annoy you"

Lila shook her head and looked at him with a soft smile "No, it makes me really happy" she blushed.

Nathanael's eyes widened at her response and a smile appeared on his face "I'm glad"

A short silence descended upon the duo as they looked away from each other. Faces stained red from blushing. They both gazed around the park for a while. Then Nathanael looked at Lila and made a decision to ask.

"Lila, um you know the prom is happening soon"

Lila looked at Nathanael with bright green eyes and nodded "Yes"

Nathanael rubbed the back of his neck, something, Lila noted, he did when he was nervous.

"Well, I was j-just wondering if um you wanted to go together"

A bright smile appeared on Lila's face "You mean me and you go together"

Nathanael nodded his face had turned a shade of red that rivalled his hair colour.

"Yes, I would like to go with you," Lila said, almost shyly as she glanced away from Nathanael's direct gaze, her cheeks turning a pretty dusty pink.

"G-great" Nathanael said

* * *

Nathanael rushed home a wide smile on his face _'this is a dream right? It has to be…I'm actually going with Lila'_

Nathanael quickly opened the door to the apartment. "Mum!" he shouted.

Nathanael's mum came out of the kitchen "What's wrong, Nathanael?"

"I need your help…I'm going to prom with Lila!" he exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

Adina Kurtzberg gasped happily "Well this is serious…we're going to need to get you the best suit oh, and do you even know how to dance?"

"Probably not," Nathanael said with a shrug.

"Well I hope you're prepared for some hard work!" his mother declared seriously.

Nathanael nodded a determined look in his eyes. He wanted everything to be perfect for Lila.

* * *

Lila collapsed on her bed happily. She was going with Nathanael to the dance…she couldn't believe he had actually asked her.

Then her phone buzzed she took it out. It was a message from Rose into the girl's group chat.

 _Flowerchild: Lila, are you okay now?_

 _Rossifox: Yeah, sorry if I caused any of you's trouble._

 _Mirrorwitch: No it's fine you did make Nath worry a lot._

 _Flowerchild: speaking of Nath, did he ask you yet, Lila?_

 _Mirrorwitch: Rose! That was a secret!_

 _Flowerchild: but he told us before he left that he would do it!_

 _Flowerchild: so did he? Lila, please tell us!_

Lila smiled knowing what Rose was on about but she couldn't help teasing the girl a bit. She sent a text back with a smirk.

 _RossiFox: did he ask me what? I have no clue what you are on about?_

Suddenly a heap of messages flooded in:

 _Flowerchild: what!? But he seemed so confident before going to see you!_

 _Mirrorwitch: he seriously didn't ask?_

 _Flowerchild: I know I'm not usually one to be violent, but he is SO getting hit over the head!_ ( ` ω ´ )

Lila was laughing now but she knew she needed to calm Rose down before she actually did hurt Nathanael.

 _RossiFox: calm down! Nathy did ask me to prom if that's what ur all going on about._

 _Mirrorwitch: I'm really happy he asked you!_

 _Flowerchild: Yay! Now I don't have to hit him over the head…I would have felt sad if I did that._

 _Flowerchild: also I'm really happy that Nathanael finally asked u! u 2 would make such a cute couple 3_

 _Mirrorwitch: I agree with rose._

Lila felt her face heat up as she read the messages. _'I'm glad they think that…but we're not exactly a couple yet…at least I think so'_

 _Rossifox: ahh, he's just asked me to go to prom! It's not like we're a couple or anything!_

 _Flowerchild: I thought you wanted to be a couple with Nath?!_

 _Rossifox: I do but I'm not going to rush things._

 _Mirrorwitch: you have our support anyway._

 _Flowerchild: Yep, also the whole class ships you!_

 _Rossifox: what?!_

 _Flowerchild: yeah! I was chatting with everyone and they all support my ship which is you and Nath, so I'm happy! Well everyone except Chloe…I didn't ask her._

Lila smiled a pink blush on her cheeks. She was glad people supported her and Nathanael being together she had been worried everyone would have been against it with her lying to everyone at the start of the year.

 _Rossifox: wow, then I hope things work out._

 _Flowerchild: they will, I'll make sure it does._

Lila laughed at Rose's response. And put her phone down on her bedside table.

She decided to go do some homework. _'There's no point me falling behind I don't want dad at me about yet another thing'_

* * *

Nathanael was wondering if he had made a mistake telling his mum he was going with Lila to the dance.

"What about this one?" His mum asked, pointing to a suit on her phone screen.

"Mum, it doesn't matter that much as long as it looks like a normal suit it's fine!" Nathanael sighed.

His mum glared "I thought you have more enthusiasm, after all, you don't want to disappoint your future wife!"

Nathanael went red in the face and glared at his mum "We're not even really a couple yet…you're so annoying!"

"What you mean you aren't a couple! Seriously Nathanael can you not even ask out girls properly!" his mum shook her head in sadness.

Nathanael sighed again and stood up "I'm leaving," he said before walking to the door.

His mum smirked, "I was only teasing, c'mon stop being so sensitive!"

Nathanael rolled his eyes and made his way up the stairs to his room.

He pushed open the door of his room and went inside.

' _I should get those other paintings and sketches of Lila'_ he thought as he made his way over to the wardrobe and kneeled down as he took the pages out from under the wardrobe.

He saw they had got a little dusty so he carefully wiped them down with the sleeve of his blazer. He went and placed them on his desk.

' _I should probably show these to Lila as well…I hope she likes them'_

Then he went to do some work he needed to complete for school.

* * *

Lila heard her phone ' _ding'_ notifying her of a message. She stood up and stretched a little. Her muscles felt stiff from sitting doing English essays for Miss Bustier's class.

Lila walked over to her bedside table and picked up the phone and saw Rose had left a message.

 _Flowerchild: Are you two okay with us going Shopping after school t-mor?_

 _Mirrorwitch sent a message: for our outfits for the dance?_

 _Flowerchild: yep!_

 _Rossifox: Sounds good to me._

 _Mirrorwitch: yeah, I'm fine with it._

 _Flowerchild: Great!_

Lila put the phone on standby and then realised how late it had gotten. She felt really tired after the dramatic day.

' _I should go to sleep now'_ she thought as she went to get ready for bed.

* * *

The Next Day of school came. Lila thanked Charles for driving her and got out of the car. She made her way up the steps of the school. Students were already hurrying about.

She entered the building and scanned her eyes over the crowd and spotted red hair over by the lockers. She made her way through the crowds and over to Nathanael.

He was at his locker with his back turned to Lila. She made her way up to him.

"Hey, Nathanael"

He jumped a little and turned around and saw Lila smiling at him. A blush appeared on his face "Hey, Lila"

"So what's that you got?" she nodded her head towards the locker.

Nathanael's eyes widened "Uh I wasn't going to show you until the end of school…"

"I'm going out with Rose and Juleka after school" Lila answered.

"Oh…well then I suppose I could show you now," he said as he took some pages out of his locker and handed them to Lila.

"These are some of the other drawings I created" he explained with a soft smile.

Lila looked at them all with bright eyes "Your drawings are always so amazingly beautiful" she stoked the paper softly. She looked at Nathanael with a smile

Nathanael anxiously laughed "Well, I have a pretty amazing muse, so…" He caught himself and a deep red blush enveloped his face.

Lila giggled at Nathanael's reaction "You're so cute" she said as she moved closer towards the boy. Pushing back his bang of red hair she placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

Nathanael's eyes widened and his face turned crimson.

Lila smiled "We should probably get to class now"

Nathanael managed to nod and they began to walk to class.

Lila sat in the classroom holding her phone under the desk as she scrolled through it. Nathanael sat beside her sketching in his sketchbook. when a shadow fell over them.

They looked up to see Chloe glaring down at them, she held her phone open to an article on the Ladyblog. "Is this true, Liar?"

Lila sighed "I haven't a clue what you're talking about"

"You and Ladybug becoming friends!" Chloe hissed.

"Oh, that, yes I've decided after meeting you she isn't actually that bad" Lila smiled.

Chloe glared "Mind your place, Liar, Ladybug adores me so don't go thinking your something special!" she flipped her ponytail and turned on her heel marching back down to her seat.

Lila and Nathanael glanced at each other with raised eyebrows and then they found themselves laughing.

"You just got told!" Nathanael laughed.

"I sure did!" Lila said, rolling her eyes at Chloe's words.

* * *

The bell rang for the end of school and as Lila was putting some books in her locker. Rose and Juleka came up to her with smiles.

"Lila, you ready to go?' Rose asked.

Lila glanced at them and smiled "Yeah, just putting my books away can't be bothered carrying them around the shops"

Rose and Juleka nodded.

"We did the same" Juleka said.

Lila shut her locker door and Joined Juleka and Rose as they walked out of the school. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sabrina sitting on the corner of the bottom of the steps looking very upset.

"Jule, Rose can you hang on a second?" Lila asked.

They both looked at her curiously.

"Did you forget something?" Juleka asked.

"No um…" she trailed off and pointed to Sabrina.

"Oh, the poor dear…it must be hard being friends with Chloe" Rose said, her large blue eyes filling with tears as she pouted.

"I'll go see what's wrong," Lila said, beginning to walk over the ginger-haired girl

"Okay, we'll wait here," Juleka said. She put a comforting arm around Rose who cuddled up to her tall girlfriend.

Lila walked over to Sabrina, who must have heard her coming as she looked up and saw Lila approach.

"Oh, hey Lila," Sabrina said, quietly.

Lila sat down beside the girl and gave her a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine" Sabrina nodded a false smile on her face.

Lila crossed her arms "Sabrina, don't lie to me, we're friends you know!"

Sabrina's eyes began to water behind her glasses and she started to sniff.

"it's Chloe" she sobbed.

Lila put a comforting arm around Sabrina "What she do now?"

"Sh-she shouted at m-me and sai-said that w-we're n-not friends anymore!" Sabrina stuttered out between sobs.

"Why would she do that?" Lila asked _'after all it's not she's spoiled for choice in the friend's category'_

"I told her that I wouldn't do something for her, she wanted me to do something awful to you or Nathanael but I said I wouldn't," Sabrina said, she took off her glasses and wiped her eyes.

"That's good is it not? You finally put your foot down against Chloe's bullying" Lila explained.

Sabrina nodded as she used the bottom of her sweater to wipe her glasses. "I suppose…but now I have nothing to wear for the prom on Friday" she put her glasses back on her face "Chloe was going to lend me one of her lovely dresses"

"Don't worry about that, you can come with me, Juleka and Rose, we're going dress shopping right now" Lila smiled.

Sabrina's eyes brightened "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

Lila laughed "of course not" she stood up and held out a hand which Sabrina accepted. She helped Sabrina stand up and dragged her over to Juleka and Rose.

"We have an added member to our shopping trip," Lila said.

"Great!" Rose smiled.

"Let's go then," Juleka said. She began to walk off holding Rose's hand. Rose walked alongside her a little skip in her step.

Lila followed behind and Sabrina walked beside her a bright smile on her face.

* * *

Nathanael entered the flat and saw his mum putting on a black jacket and grabbing her bag from the storage closet.

"You going somewhere?" he asked. He took his satchel off his shoulder and placed it on the floor.

"You mean we are going somewhere" she grinned.

"What?" Nathanael asked.

"we have to get you a suit so c'mon we better get going," Miss Kurtzberg said grabbing Nathanael's wrist and dragging him back out the door before he could even protest.

* * *

"The dresses in there look nice," Rose said, running up to look at a window display.

Lila frowned "But they're all pink"

Rose grinned "I know! It's the best!"

"Pink isn't really my colour" Sabrina muttered.

"Mine either," Juleka said.

Rose pouted "But that one look's really pretty!" she pointed to a dress on display that was pink with a white lace over the top in a spiral design. "Can you all wait while I try one on?" Rose looked at them with big eyes.

They all sighed giving in to her cuteness "Fine" they chorused.

Rose grinned and skipped into the shop. The girls followed her slowly.

Rose stepped out from the changing room for the girls to see what the dress looked like on her.

"It's so pretty!" She cooed as she slowly spun around.

The girls nodded.

"You look beautiful," Juleka said.

Rose blushed and smiled at her.

"So you going to get it?" Lila asked.

Rose nodded and went back into the changing room pulling the dark pink curtain closed after her.

After changing and paying for the dress the girls exited the very pink boutique.

"So is there any other places that sell dresses that aren't pink?" Lila asked.

"We could go to Chloe's favourite store," Sabrina said "Bumblebee boutique"

Juleka shook her head "Chloe may be able to afford their prices but I could never"

"Oh, right," Sabrina said bowing her head.

"It's okay, there's plenty of shops we'll find one that can suit everyone!" Lila said, trying to cheer up Sabrina.

"Come on we can walk around a bit and see if we can see any good shops," Rose said. She started to skip ahead of her pink and white striped shopping bag swinging in her hand.

The girls followed behind her.

* * *

Nathanael stood with a frown on his face as his mum searched through suits on a rack. She looked up and glared at him.

"Nathanael, stop being so grumpy!" she hissed "we're just searching for a suit, stop acting like I'm choosing your death sentence!"

"May as well be" Nathanael muttered, stuffing his hands in his pocket.

"What was that!" his mum asked, a dark look crossed her face.

"Nothing!" Nathanael said.

His mother nodded and went back to searching. "Ah, here," she said, pulling out a dark grey suit. "Try this on" she instructed.

Nathanael sighed and accepted the suit from his mum before trailing over to the changing rooms.

He came out of the changing rooms in the suit.

His mum ahhed "you've grown into such a good looking man!"

"Mum! Shut up!" he complained, glaring.

"It was a compliment!" she exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes.

"Now let me fix that tie," she said, she walked over and started to fix his tie.

"Mum, that's too tight!" he complained, trying to pull it lose.

"Leave it, it has to be tight!" his mum said.

"I'm the one wearing it so no it won't be tight!" he argued.

Adina Kurtzberg sighed. "Fine, be awkward"

He pouted and glared.

"Now go change so we can buy it"

Nathanael nodded and headed back to the changing room.

* * *

The girl's arrived at a boutique that interested Sabrina and Juleka.

"Sew in style" Sabrina muttered as she read the shop name.

"Let's go in, the dresses look nice," Juleka said

Rose pushed open the doorway, bells jingling as they all walked in one after the other.

They started to look around the shop and soon Juleka and Sabrina had found a few dresses to try on.

"Lila, have you saw anything nice?" Rose asked.

Lila shook her head "No, nothing appeals to me" she sighed sadly.

"It's okay, I'll help you look while Sabrina and Juleka try on the dresses," Rose said.

Juleka and Sabrina nodded and headed to the changing rooms.

Rose started to rummage through the dresses on the rack.

"What about this one?" she asked, she pulled out a dark green dress.

Lila shook her head. "No, I don't like sleeves"

Rose put it back with a nod and resumed her search. Lila decided to go look in the section behind Rose.

Their search ended with no joy. No dress seemed to suit Lila's taste. But Juleka and Sabrina managed to get dresses that they liked.

Juleka's dress reached just above her ankles it was a deep purple with a black bodice around the waist and it had thin black lace around the top.

Sabrina had chosen a teal two-piece dress with the bottom half reaching the ground, the top half was covered in crystal beads with an arrow pointing downwards design.

They paid for their dresses and the girls left the shop.

"Lila, you have a big house right?" Juleka asked.

Lila gave her a curious glance "Uh, Yeah I suppose, why you ask?"

"I thought we could all get together at yours beforehand so I can help everyone with their makeup," Juleka said.

Lila nodded "Oh, yeah you're really good at that stuff aren't you?"

"She's the best!" Rose said.

Lila smiled "That's a great idea then"

"Great we'll all come to yours then" Juleka nodded.

"But first we should worry about helping Lila find a dress" Sabrina said.

They all nodded and started to look around for any shops that caught their eyes.

Lila gasped and went running across the road, luckily she didn't get run over by any cars.

"Lila, where are you going?!" Sabrina shouted. They all chased after her.

Lila stood outside a boutique which outside walls were painted a pastel red and had white frames running along the side, the door was also white.

Lila looked at the sign and read off its name: "Clothing Palette" then she looked back at the window display with shining eyes. On display was a red dress that had got Lila's attention.

' _I want that dress no scratch that I Need that dress!'_

"Lila, find something you like?" Rose asked as they caught up to Lila.

Lila nodded and rushed inside the store. The girls followed with grins.

Soon Lila had found the red dresses and they had one left in her size.

' _It's destiny!'_ she thought as she made her way to the changing rooms.

She soon slipped on the dress and found it was actually rather comfy to wear. She fixed the skirts netting and the strands of her hair that had got caught in the back. She pushed back the curtain and stepped out to see what the others thought of it.

"Wow, that looks beautiful on you!" Sabrina grinned.

"You look like a princess!" Rose said, eyes sparkling.

Juleka nodded "Very nice"

Lila smiled at their compliments.

"Look in the mirror!" Rose instructed.

Lila giggled and did as she was told turning to look in the mirror behind her. She admired the dress she was wearing.

The red dress reached just along her knees and had many sewed in sparkles along the netting that was over the top of plain red cloth, the top was covered in little tiny ruffled shape flowers and tiny rubies this even went along the shoulder straps that settled just below Lila's shoulders.

"So you going to get it?" Sabrina asked.

Lila nodded "Of course, it's gorgeous!"

Lila went back behind the curtain to change into her ordinary clothes and then holding the dress carefully over her arm she exited the changing rooms, Juleka asked "So is that us all done now, you just have to buy the dress?"

"Oh I was actually going to get some shoes to match this dress," Lila said.

The girls gasped.

"Shoes, we forgot about shoes!" Rose cried.

The looked at each other shocked.

Lila laughed. "Well, there's plenty of option here," she said as they headed to the section where all the shoes were located.

They quickly found shoes to suit their dresses and bought them before finally exiting the shop.

* * *

Nathanael followed his mum up to the tills and sighed when his mum did the usual thing of starting a full out conversation with the cashier.

"Oh, yes his school is having a huge prom for his year," she told the cashier.

"I see, you have a date yet?" the man asked.

"Of course he does, he's got the prettiest date," his mum said, "I wouldn't expect anything less of my handsome boy" she pulled at Nathanael's cheek with a smirk.

His face turned red and he glared at his mum "get off!" he hissed quietly, pushing away his mother's hand.

"Let's go now," he said, taking the bag with the suit and rushing off.

He heard his mum laugh and he glared at the ground. _'Why can't I have a normal mum?!'_

* * *

"It's getting late" Sabrina commented.

"Yeah, I better head home," Rose said.

Juleka nodded "yeah, bye Lila"

"Bye" Lila waved as Juleka, Rose and Sabrina headed in the opposite direction she was headed. She walked on down the street before finally spotting Charles and the car parked along the street waiting for her.

She rushed over and got inside.

"Anywhere else for us to go Miss Rossi?" he asked.

Lila shook her head "No, just home" she said then stared out the window at the darkening sky with tired eyes.

* * *

Lila finally collapsed into bed, grateful for her soft bedding. Her eyes were fluttering shut when she heard her phone buzz.

She sighed and sat up a little to grab it off her bedside table. She saw it was a text from Nathanael.

 _SuperNath: so did you find a dress?_

 _RossiFox: Yep, have you got a suit yet?_

She waited a few seconds before he replied.

 _SuperNath: Yep, mum dragged me out against my will and proceeded to embarrass me._

Lila found herself smiling at his response.

 _Rossifox: at least you finally have a suit, I'm really tired so I'm gonna sleep now._

 _SuperNath: okay, see you tomorrow._

Lila placed her phone back on her bedside table, then she rolled over snuggling into her duvet. She shut her eyes and finally fell asleep.

* * *

 **Ahhh! Can you believe there's only one more chapter to go! Hope you liked this chapter :3**


	20. Little words

**It's my friend on IG (Lila_Rossi_tr) birthday so this last chapter is a gift to her. Happy Birthday!**

* * *

The Night of the dance came and everyone in Lila's year was in nervous excitement for the time to come.

Lila started getting ready. She grabbed her hairbrush and started pulling it through her thick brown hair. She had decided to leave her hair down. Then she went and put on the dress she bought while shopping with the girls.

She smiled when she saw it on her in the mirror. She smoothed out the skirts and sighed happily.

' _This is the prettiest dress ever'_

Then she heard Mia call her name. "Lila your friends are here!"

Lila smiled when she heard this and walked over and opened the door. "You can just send them up" she shouted down.

Then she heard footsteps on the stairs and then the girls rushed into her room.

"Your house is amazing, Lila!" Sabrina said, "It's like a huge manor!"

"Oh, your room is so pretty!" Rose cooed.

Lila laughed "Thank you"

The girls were also already in their dresses and had done their hair.

Sabrina's ginger hair was in soft curls that reached her shoulders, Rose had a large silver clip in her hair designed like a butterfly with diamonds decorating it. Juleka had her hair in tiny braids that went around her head and then went into a large braid behind her head with some hair still loose and curled slightly.

"You all look beautiful!" Lila said.

They smiled and thanked her.

"Now who want's their makeup done first?" Juleka asked, setting a large makeup storage box on top of Lila's sunset coloured duvet.

"Oh, Me please!" Sabrina said, rushing over to Lila's vanity table and pulling out the fluffy white chair to sit down.

Juleka laughed at her eagerness and got out some makeup supplies from her box.

Soon she had all the girls make up done. Lila never liked to go big with her makeup looks preferring a simple natural makeup. She did let Juleka put on some light red eyeshadow which she then overlapped along the top of the eyelid with some more sparkly red eyeshadow. Then Lila added some mascara to fill out her lashes and using an eye pencil she shaped her eyebrows.

The girls were then ready to go. Lila slipped on two thin golden cuff bracelets on her right arm and then followed the girls down the stairs.

* * *

Nathanael was walking down the stairs dressed in his suit for the prom.

"Are you going to collect Lila?" his mum asked.

"I suggested it but she said to just meet her at the Le Grand Paris because the other girls are getting a lift with her family chauffeur" Nathanael explained.

"She has a personal chauffeur?" Adina Kurtzberg asked, her eyes rounding.

Nathanael nodded "It kind comes with being the daughter of a diplomat"

Nathanael's mum gasped only finding out about this news now. Then she saw Nathanael struggling to fix his tie.

She rolled her eyes "Come here, I'll fix it"

"You make it too tight!" Nathanael complained, but he let her fix it anyway.

"Now you better get going oh, don't forget the gift you got Lila," His mum said.

Nathanael nodded "Thanks for reminding me"

He rushed back up the stairs to get the gift.

* * *

Lila sat in the car with Rose, Juleka and Sabrina. Charles was, of course, driving them but her father had allowed them to take a larger car than the one Lila usually took.

"Oh, we're nearly there!" Rose said. An excited grin on her face as she stared out the window.

"I like this car it's very comfy," Juleka said aloud.

"Does your family own a car?" Lila asked.

Juleka shook her head "No, we don't really need one with all the public transport available"

"Same for my family," Rose said "Dad gets the metro to work and I can get a bus home or close to the school"

Lila nodded.

"We're here!" Sabrina said as the car pulled up to the hotel.

The girls all clambered out. Lila making sure her skirt was perfectly straight and not creased when Charles put down his tinted black window.

"Miss Rossi"

Lila looked at him with wide eyes.

"I just wanted to say I hope you enjoy your time"

Lila smiled "Thank you, I'm sure I will"

Charles nodded and pushed the button to make the window go back up. Then he drove off. He would come back later to collect Lila.

"You coming, Lila? Nath's probably waiting for you!" Rose said, grabbing the Italians hand she pulled her towards the doorway.

They walked into the lobby of the hotel and saw some of their classmates were already there.

Lila glanced around for sight of Nathanael, she sighed sadly when she couldn't see him.

"uh, Hey Lila," a voice behind her said.

She turned around and came face to face with those gorgeous ocean eyes. A soft smile appeared on her face.

She watched as Nathanael's cheeks darkened in a blush "You look beautiful" he said.

Lila blushed "You look great too" she replied.

Nathanael laughed. "Shall we go on in?"

Lila nodded and took his hand. They walked on into the venue hall.

* * *

Sabrina watched Lila walk off with Nathanael. She was happy for her friend but now she was all on her own.

She sighed and glanced around the lobby. She decided she may as well go on in when a voice called out her name.

"Sabrina!"

She looked to see Chloe walking up to her, wearing a goldish-yellow dress. Her eyebrows furrowed in a glare.

"There you are, I see you got a dress though I had many better options than that, anyway C'mon you have to make sure no creeps in our year annoy me!" she flicked her hair over her shoulder.

"No!" Sabrina said.

"I mean you can't-wait, what did you just say?" Chloe asked, eyes narrowing.

"I said No, I'm not going to let you treat me like a servant anymore!" Sabrina crossed her arms "If you still want to be friends I have some conditions!"

"Conditions?!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Yes, first you must treat me with more respect I'm not just some dog that's there to do your chores! Second, you have to start trying to be nicer to people and um I'll think of more later"

Chloe blinked. "I'm the daughter of-"

Sabrina cut into Chloe's sentence "the mayor, we know Chloe you say it _All_ the time. It doesn't mean you get to treat people like trash!"

Chloe pouted and glared at the girl. "ugh, fine I'll try and do what you said"

Sabrina smiled "I knew you could do it!" she wrapped Chloe in a hug.

"Sabrina, get off me! You could damage my dress!" Chloe complained. But she didn't try to push Sabrina off her showing she actually didn't mind the hug.

Sabrina finally let Chloe free from the hug "Now C'mon let's go!" she grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled her on into the venue hall.

* * *

Lila and Nathanael entered the venue hall. It was decorated with white ribbons and golden fairy lights strung along the roof and silver and white balloons. They saw some couples were already on the dance floor.

"Oh hey, guys," Alix said coming to stand beside them, it appeared she had decided against wearing a dress and instead was wearing a white blouse, dark green formal shorts and a pair of green high tops.

Lila glanced at her and then her look grew concerned when she Alix was holding a paper plate stacked like a large pyramid with food from the buffet table.

"Are you going eat all that?" she asked.

Alix glanced at her and nodded "Of course, the only reason I'm here is for the food, Lila" With that said she walked back to the buffet table.

Lila watched with her eyes widening in horror.

Nathanael laughed "You look like you've witnessed a death"

"It may as well be, how can someone eat so much food without putting on any weight? wait, you're the same as her it must be the vibrant hair colours" Lila smirked.

Nathanael rolled his eyes "She dyes her hair so that's unlikely"

Lila laughed. "Now c'mon no point us just standing here!"

She pulled Nathanael on out to the dance floor. Nino was up on a small stage doing his job being the DJ. Nino then changed the music to a slower more romantic style.

Lila led them to an open space and smiled at Nathanael. He blushed "Uhm, Lila I don't really know how to-"

"Of course you do, it's simple," Lila said, cutting into what he was going to say.

She took both of his hands, guiding them towards her waist. Then she put her arms behind his neck. They began to dance, but Nathanael managed to stumble on every odd beat.

He blushed and stuttered out "S-sorry"

Lila giggled "Stop stressing, Nathy"

Nathanael looked at her and managed a small smile "Right" he said.

Then he glanced down and saw that Lila wasn't wearing heels instead she was wearing a pair of red ballet flats with red bows attached at the top, there was a tiny heel but it wasn't much.

"You're not wearing heels?" Nathanael asked.

Lila nodded "Yeah, I'm surprised your only noticing now if I had my heels on I would be a bit taller than you"

"Well, you still kind of are," Nathanael said.

"Only by a few inches" Lila smirked.

* * *

Back with Chloe and Sabrina, Chloe was watching Adrien dance with Marinette with a venomous glare.

"Damn Césair, setting that no good Marinette up with precious Adrien!" Chloe exclaimed, she sat down on a chair by the bar, crossing her arms as her eyes flashed with annoyance.

"So what you can't dance with Adrien" Sabrina shrugged.

Chloe glared at the ginger-haired girl "So what! So what!" she hissed.

Sabrina sighed.

"This was meant to be the best night of my life and now it is the worst!" Chloe cried, dramatically.

Sabrina glanced around the place and saw many couples dancing. Adrien and Marinette, Rose and Juleka, Ivan and Mylene and of course, Nathanael and Lila.

Alya was talking to Alix over by the buffet table as Nino was doing the music so he would be unable to dance until it was time for Max to take over so he could have a break.

Then she noticed Kim standing in the corner looking gloomy. An idea came to her.

She spoke over Chloe's ranting "Hey Chloe you know the way you promised to be nicer?"

Chloe glanced at the girl in suspicion. "Yes," she said slowly.

"Well, Kim over there looks lonely maybe you should go and cheer him up" Sabrina suggested.

"What no way!" Chloe shook her head "why would I do that?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes and sighed. "Because you were nothing but rude to him the day he tried to give you a brooch"

Chloe sighed and stood up from the chair "Fine, but if he starts being a creep I'm sacrificing you"

Sabrina shook her head at Chloe's words but smiled as she watched Chloe walk off.

As Lila and Nathanael were dancing. Nathanael stopped dancing and stepped back removing his hands from Lila's waist. Lila looked at him in concern.

"You okay, Nathy?"

He nodded and looked at her with bright eyes "I just need to speak to you"

"About what?" Lila raised a manicured eyebrow.

"Come with me and then I'll tell you" Nathanael held out a hand.

Lila took his hand and walked with him as he led her out of the venue hall and through the hotel until they came to a door which Nathanael carefully opened before leading Lila outside.

Lila gasped as she looked around, they were outside in a small but beautifully maintained garden area. There was a water fountain and little lights that lit up when they sensed it was dark.

An ornate bench was positioned facing the fountain and manicured bushes with blossoming flowers such as roses scattered around the place.

"Wow, I didn't even know this place was here," Lila said.

"Yeah, I found it one day when we had to do work experience here at the hotel as a class, Chloe was bossing everyone around so I sneaked away and found this place and just spent the rest of the day in here drawing" Nathanael explained.

Lila giggled "Sounds about right"

Nathanael smiled. "Uh, I got something for you," he said.

Lila's eyes widened and she looked at him in curiosity.

He reached into his pocket inside his blazer jacket and brought out a thin rectangle shaped box.

"What's that?" Lila asked.

He smiled and open it showing her the silver necklace with an emerald pendant shaped in a heart with silver crystals gathered around it.

Lila gasped "You got that for me"

Nathanael nodded his face turning crimson "Yeah, do you like it?"

"I love it!" Lila said with sparkling eyes.

Nathanael smiled and took it out of the box and then he helped Lila put it on, she held up her hair so he could attach the clasps.

It fell around her neck perfectly and she looked down at it with a smile before looking back at Nathanael.

"Thank you, Nath, this was so sweet of you," she said, her cheeks turning a dusty pink.

Nathanael smiled. There was a moment of silence between the two teens as they stood with small blushes on their faces, glancing at each other and then away. When Nathanael looked at Lila and blurted out "Lila, I think I love you"

Lila looked at him with wide eyes and her face slowly turned red, Nathanael's was having much the same fate.

She smiled "I'm glad because I think I love you as well"

Nathanael gasped "Really, you mean it?"

"Of course, I would never fake my feelings for you, you mean too much to me," Lila said.

Nathanael looked up at Lila with blushing cheeks and wide eyes he slowly reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand and brought her in for a kiss.

Lila was completely unprepared. She thought that after all the hours she had spent with Nathanael - watching him talk, laugh and frown - that she would know all there was to know about his lips. But she hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed up against her own.

Soon she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss resting her hands on his shoulders as she felt Nathanael run tentative fingers through her hair.

It wasn't a relatively long kiss, or a passionate one, but rather a simple one shared by two teens. It was soft and sweet and sincere. It was everything a first kiss should be.

They pulled away and look at each other with soft smiles and blushes.

After a moment Lila asked: "Shall we go back?"

Nathanael nodded, entwining his hand with hers. They slowly set off back inside the hotel.

* * *

Chloe slowly walked up to Kim. Who was leaning against the wall with a sour look on his face.

"Hey, Kim what's your problem?!" she asked, folding her arms.

He glared at the blonde haired girl. "Nothing, go away Chloe I'm not in the mood to be made fun of"

"I'm here to make fun of you, idiot!" Chloe said with a glare.

Kim raised an eyebrow "I find that very unlikely"

Chloe sighed and looked at the ground. "Look I'm here to apologise," she said quietly.

Kim's eyes widened but he decided not make fun of the girl. She continued.

"I know last year I got you akumatised, I want to say sorry for that...So sorry" she looked up, her blue eyes which usually were as hard as diamonds had softened and held sincere emotion.

Kim smiled "I accept your apology"

For the first time, a genuine smile appeared on Chloe's face. Then she glanced away and muttered "If you want we can be friends now, after all, it's not like you seem to have many"

Kim rolled eyes and decided to ignore the latter part of Chloe's comment "Sure, we can be friends but there's one thing you have to do for me to show you mean what you say"

Chloe raised an eyebrow and asked: "What's that?"

Kim smirked and grabbed her hand and before she could utter a word of protest he pulled her out onto the dance floor "You have to dance with me!"

Chloe gave a loud sigh of annoyance but decided she may as well dance with Kim. She placed her hands on his shoulders and as she danced with Kim she glanced over at Marinette and Adrien who seemed to be enjoying each other's company.

' _Marinette seems to make him happy so maybe she isn't all bad…not that I would say that to her face, of course, she already has a big enough ego as it is!'_ Chloe thought.

* * *

Lila and Nathanael entered back into the building and went to the venue hall. Max had taken over on the DJ set.

So Nino and Alya were now able to dance together. Lila glanced at the dancing couples and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Kim and Chloe dancing together.

"I thought Chloe didn't get along with Kim?" she asked.

"Huh?" Nathanael said and then he saw what Lila meant. He shrugged "No idea maybe she's had a change of heart"

"There you two are!" Rose said running up to them. Juleka followed behind her.

Then she noticed their faces were tinted red with a blush and she gasped blue eyes widening.

"Are you two together, together now?!" she jumped on her tiptoes in excitement.

Lila giggled as Nathanael looked at the ground to hide his blushing face. They both then nodded.

"Yeah, we're together," Lila said.

Rose squealed in excitement and turned to Juleka with sparkling eyes "Did you hear that!"

Juleka laughed and nodded.

"This is the best day of my life!" Rose exclaimed.

"I thought us getting together would have been the best day of your life?" Juleka teased her with a pout.

Rose gasped "you're right, let me correct myself" she took a breath before shouting "This is the second best day of my life!"

They all laughed at Rose's excitement.

Then Max put on a song that made Lila gasp. "This is my favourite song!"

"It is?" Nathanael asked.

Lila nodded "c'mon we have to dance!" she pulled Nathanael out to the dance floor. Nathanael laughed at her excitement.

"Nathanael…I'm really glad I met you," Said Lila making the redhead smile.

"So Am I," Nathanael said.

Lila smiled and leaned her forehead on his as they continued to dance slowly to the music.

And so all the students ended up having a good time at the prom and many would remember the night for a very long time.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **So yeah, we've reached the end of this fic and I want to give a huge Thank you to all who have stuck with this fic and read it and also thank you to all who left reviews, it means a lot to me :3**

 **Now Some news so I can't write anything more until summer because of exams** **(T** **＿** **T)** **but when I do get around to writing again I was planning to write a sequel to this fanfic. I'd like to hear your views on that :3**


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